Bank of New York Mellon Corp Reduces Holdings in CME Group Inc. $CME

Key Points

• Bank of New York Mellon trimmed its CME Group stake by 1.9% in Q1, selling 91,879 shares and still holding 4.83 million shares worth about $1.43 billion.
• CME insiders also sold shares recently, including CEO Terrence A. Duffy and insider Hilda Harris Piell, while institutional ownership remains high at 87.75%.
• CME Group reported strong Q1 results, beating earnings and revenue expectations, and it paid a $1.30 quarterly dividend; analysts currently rate the stock Moderate Buy with an average price target of $292.12.

Bank of New York Mellon Corp reduced its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 1.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,832,596 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 91,879 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned about 1.33% of CME Group worth $1,427,307,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in CME. Asset Dedication LLC increased its position in shares of CME Group by 64.9% during the fourth quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 94 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC boosted its holdings in CME Group by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC now owns 11,523 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,147,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group boosted its holdings in CME Group by 4.3% in the third quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 898 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $243,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Sovran Advisors LLC grew its stake in CME Group by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Sovran Advisors LLC now owns 1,118 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $305,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Endowment Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in CME Group by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Endowment Wealth Management Inc. now owns 895 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $244,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 5,753 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.63, for a total value of $1,752,536.39. Following the sale, the insider owned 27,702 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,438,860.26. This trade represents a 17.20% decrease 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 CME Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $298.51, for a total transaction of $10,447,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 55,630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,606,111.30. This represents a 38.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME stock opened at $245.18 on Thursday. 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 has a 50 day moving average of $260.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $282.60. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $218.31 and a 52 week high of $329.16. The company has a market cap of $88.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.92, a PEG ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.25.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.11 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.77 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 15.42% and a net margin of 63.19%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.80 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 12.22 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on CME. Barclays cut their target price on CME Group from $316.00 to $270.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of CME Group from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $305.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of CME Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Sunday. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of CME Group from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $320.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $292.12.

CME Group Company Profile

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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