AIA Group Ltd Has $2.37 Million Stake in CME Group Inc. $CME

Key Points

• AIA Group Ltd cut its stake in CME Group by 78.7% in the first quarter, leaving it with 8,012 shares valued at about $2.37 million.
• CME Group’s latest earnings beat expectations, with EPS of $3.36 versus estimates of $3.11 and revenue of $1.88 billion, up 14.5% year over year.
• Insider activity was mixed: director William R. Shepard bought shares, while CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 35,000 shares; analysts still rate the stock Moderate Buy with an average price target of $292.12.

AIA Group Ltd reduced its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 78.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,012 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 29,644 shares during the period. AIA Group Ltd's holdings in CME Group were worth $2,366,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CME. Asset Dedication LLC boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 64.9% during the 4th quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 94 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 2,075.0% in the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Elkhorn Partners Limited Partnership acquired a new stake in CME Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in CME Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In related news, Director William R. Shepard acquired 325 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 25th. The shares were bought at an average price of $230.57 per share, for a total transaction of $74,935.25. Following the acquisition, the director owned 260,442 shares in the company, valued at $60,050,111.94. This trade represents a 0.12% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 35,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.51, for a total transaction of $10,447,850.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 55,630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,606,111.30. The trade was a 38.62% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Erste Group Bank cut CME Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of CME Group from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $305.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of CME Group from $329.00 to $295.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $353.00 to $324.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of CME Group from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, CME Group has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $292.12.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CME opened at $245.05 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The business's 50 day moving average is $258.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $282.15. The company has a market cap of $88.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.91, a P/E/G ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.25. CME Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $218.31 and a 12 month high of $329.16.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.36 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.11 by $0.25. CME Group had a return on equity of 15.42% and a net margin of 63.19%.The company had revenue of $1.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.77 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.80 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 12.18 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 9th were paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 9th. CME Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 44.37%.

About CME Group

CME Group Inc is a global markets company that operates some of the world's largest and most liquid derivatives exchanges, including the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) and COMEX. The firm offers futures and options contracts across a broad range of asset classes — including interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, energy, agricultural commodities and metals — and serves a diverse client base of institutional investors, commercial hedgers, brokers and retail participants.

The company's core services include electronic trading on the CME Globex platform, central clearing through CME Clearing, and distribution of market data, indexes and analytics.

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