AGF Management Ltd. Has $7.36 Million Stock Holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Key Points

• AGF Management Ltd. has reduced its stake in CME Group Inc. by 4.3%, selling 1,247 shares to hold a total of 27,723 shares valued at approximately $7.36 million.
• CME Group recently reported a Q2 earnings per share (EPS) of $2.96, exceeding analysts' expectations of $2.91, with revenues increasing by 10.4% to $1.69 billion.
• The firm announced a quarterly dividend of $1.25 per share, which represents an annualized dividend of $5.00 and a yield of 1.8%.

AGF Management Ltd. lessened its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 4.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 27,723 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 1,247 shares during the period. AGF Management Ltd.'s holdings in CME Group were worth $7,355,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CME. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in CME Group by 3.0% during the first quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,379 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $366,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC increased its stake in CME Group by 4.0% during the 1st quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC now owns 1,106 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $293,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC increased its stake in CME Group by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 5,828 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,546,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 1,342 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $356,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Koshinski Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in CME Group by 1.4% during the first quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,522 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $934,000 after buying an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director William R. Shepard purchased 256 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 25th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $270.53 per share, for a total transaction of $69,255.68. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 258,196 shares of the company's stock, valued at $69,849,763.88. The trade was a 0.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Daniel G. Kaye sold 500 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.42, for a total value of $141,210.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 3,668 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,035,916.56. This trade represents a 12.00% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 2,450 shares of company stock valued at $676,663 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of CME Group from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of CME Group from $223.00 to $211.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $283.00 to $296.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $300.00 to $303.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" 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 report on Saturday, May 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $261.93.

CME Group Stock Performance

CME stock traded down $0.78 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $273.92. The company had a trading volume of 2,055,786 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,086,143. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $98.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.52, a P/E/G ratio of 4.87 and a beta of 0.44. CME Group Inc. has a one year low of $204.16 and a one year high of $290.79. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $275.52 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $267.13.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.91 by $0.05. CME Group had a net margin of 58.48% and a return on equity of 14.60%. The business had revenue of $1.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.68 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.56 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The company 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 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 9th. CME Group's payout ratio is presently 48.40%.

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.