Advisors Asset Management Inc. Has $805,000 Position in CME Group Inc. $CME

Key Points

• Advisors Asset Management Inc. reduced its stake in CME Group Inc. by 50.2%, now holding 3,036 shares valued at approximately $805,000.
• CME Group reported earnings per share of $2.96 for the last quarter, which exceeded analysts' expectations, with revenue increasing by 10.4% year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $1.25, translating to an annualized yield of 1.9% and a payout ratio of 48.40%.

Advisors Asset Management Inc. reduced its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 50.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,036 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 3,061 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in CME Group were worth $805,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CME. Heartland Bank & Trust Co bought a new position in shares of CME Group during the first quarter worth about $377,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in CME Group by 256.9% during the first quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,662 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $971,000 after acquiring an additional 2,636 shares during the period. OMNI 360 Wealth Inc. acquired a new stake in CME Group during the first quarter worth about $367,000. Fulcrum Equity Management acquired a new stake in CME Group during the first quarter worth about $258,000. Finally, AIA Group Ltd raised its stake in CME Group by 17.8% during the first quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 16,645 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $4,416,000 after acquiring an additional 2,510 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other CME Group news, Director William R. Shepard bought 256 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 25th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $270.53 per share, for a total transaction of $69,255.68. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 258,196 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $69,849,763.88. This represents a 0.10% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Sunil Cutinho sold 11,896 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.47, for a total transaction of $3,229,407.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 17,440 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,734,436.80. This represents a 40.55% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CME traded down $0.08 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $262.30. 1,537,684 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,837,493. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $212.38 and a fifty-two week high of $290.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The firm has a market cap of $94.53 billion, a PE ratio of 25.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.75 and a beta of 0.43. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $273.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $270.21.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.91 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.68 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 58.48% and a return on equity of 14.60%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.56 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 9th will be issued a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 9th. CME Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.40%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on CME shares. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $283.00 to $296.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of CME Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Sunday, July 13th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of CME Group from $305.00 to $285.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Barclays set a $298.00 price target on shares of CME Group and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Erste Group Bank lowered shares of CME Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $260.60.

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.