Brevan Howard Capital Management LP Sells 15,438 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Brevan Howard Capital Management LP lessened its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 12.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 104,209 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 15,438 shares during the period. CME Group makes up 0.2% of Brevan Howard Capital Management LP's portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP's holdings in CME Group were worth $24,200,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of CME. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. boosted its holdings in CME Group by 570.6% during the fourth quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 50.0% during the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 129 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Financial Life Planners bought a new position in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Knuff & Co LLC bought a new stake in CME Group during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its position in CME Group by 120.3% during the fourth quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 152 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Derek Sammann sold 4,650 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.61, for a total value of $1,304,836.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 8,336 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,339,164.96. This represents a 35.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 3,984 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.47, for a total value of $997,872.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 27,046 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,774,211.62. This represents a 12.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 34,726 shares of company stock valued at $8,975,813 in the last ninety days. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CME traded up $2.36 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $284.35. 953,386 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,153,918. The company has a market cap of $102.47 billion, a PE ratio of 29.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.45. CME Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $190.70 and a twelve month high of $286.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $264.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $245.55.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.61 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $1.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.56 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.62% and a net margin of 57.52%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.50 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.76%. CME Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 50.30%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on CME. Erste Group Bank raised shares of CME Group to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on CME Group from $275.00 to $283.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on CME Group from $269.00 to $279.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of CME Group from $200.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $256.80.

CME Group Profile

CME Group Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates contract markets for the trading of futures and options on futures contracts worldwide. It offers futures and options products based on interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, agricultural commodities, energy, and metals, as well as fixed income and foreign currency trading services.