CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Shares Sold by Axa S.A.

Axa S.A. reduced its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 8.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 525,353 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 50,309 shares during the period. Axa S.A. owned about 0.15% of CME Group worth $122,003,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in CME. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC raised its position in shares of CME Group by 108.7% in the 4th quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 12,390 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,949,000 after purchasing an additional 6,453 shares in the last quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. acquired a new stake in CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at $6,144,000. Unified Investment Management bought a new position in CME Group during the 4th quarter valued at $503,000. Spire Wealth Management grew its holdings in CME Group by 37.4% during the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 1,320 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $307,000 after acquiring an additional 359 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc increased its position in shares of CME Group by 19.3% in the 4th quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc now owns 326,098 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $75,730,000 after purchasing an additional 52,862 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of CME opened at $280.45 on Friday. CME Group Inc. has a one year low of $190.70 and a one year high of $282.10. The stock's fifty day moving average is $261.34 and its 200-day moving average is $243.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $101.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.45.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.61 by $0.19. CME Group had a net margin of 57.52% and a return on equity of 13.62%. The company had revenue of $1.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.56 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.50 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from CME Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. CME Group's payout ratio is currently 50.30%.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.83, for a total transaction of $385,245.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 8,036 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,063,885.88. This represents a 15.73 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Dennis Suskind sold 1,000 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.28, for a total value of $271,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 2,915 shares in the company, valued at $790,781.20. The trade was a 25.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 30,076 shares of company stock worth $7,670,976 over the last 90 days. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on CME shares. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on CME Group from $275.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Raymond James upgraded CME Group from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $287.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Citigroup lowered CME Group from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price target for the company from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. UBS Group raised their price objective on CME Group from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of CME Group from $269.00 to $279.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $256.80.

CME Group Company 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.

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