Capital Group Private Client Services Inc. Sells 101,072 Shares of CME Group Inc. $CME

Key Points

• Capital Group Private Client Services cut its stake in CME by 94.7%, selling 101,072 shares in the third quarter and retaining 5,610 shares valued at $1.516 million.
• CME beat quarterly EPS estimates ($2.77 vs. $2.75) with revenue up 8.1% to $1.65 billion, and the board raised the quarterly dividend to $1.30 (annualized $5.20, ~1.7% yield; ex-dividend March 10).
• Shares fell about 4%, pressured by the ex-dividend adjustment, recent insider selling (30,248 shares, ~$8.36M over three months) and mixed analyst views (consensus price target ~$302.71), while institutional ownership remains high (~87.8%).

Capital Group Private Client Services Inc. lessened its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 94.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,610 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 101,072 shares during the quarter. Capital Group Private Client Services Inc.'s holdings in CME Group were worth $1,516,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CME. Caldwell Trust Co boosted its holdings in CME Group by 116.3% during the third quarter. Caldwell Trust Co now owns 93 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA acquired a new stake in CME Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Financial Consulate Inc. bought a new stake in CME Group during the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. Sagard Holdings Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of CME Group during the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Corundum Trust Company INC acquired a new position in shares of CME Group during the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company's stock.

CME Group Stock Down 4.0%

Shares of CME opened at $306.34 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $110.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.71 and a beta of 0.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $248.53 and a 52 week high of $329.16. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $293.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $278.26.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.75 by $0.02. CME Group had a net margin of 62.45% and a return on equity of 14.65%. The firm had revenue of $1.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.64 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.52 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 10th. This is an increase from CME Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. CME Group's payout ratio is 44.80%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on CME. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on CME Group from $319.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Rothschild & Co Redburn increased their price target on CME Group from $300.00 to $333.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Weiss Ratings upgraded CME Group from a "buy (b+)" rating to a "buy (a-)" rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on CME Group from $262.00 to $266.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price objective on CME Group from $305.00 to $328.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, CME Group has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $302.71.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 4,200 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.65, for a total transaction of $1,300,530.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 43,007 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,317,117.55. This trade represents a 8.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Dennis Suskind sold 748 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $224,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 2,699 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $809,700. The trade was a 21.70% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 30,248 shares of company stock worth $8,355,450 over the last three months. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

CME Group News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting CME Group this week:

• Positive Sentiment: CME is reporting record trading activity and demand: the energy complex set an all‑time single‑day volume record (8.3M contracts) and the firm touted record monthly futures volume, evidence of strong client flow and fee generation that supports revenues and long‑term earnings. Energy Volume Record
• Positive Sentiment: Product expansion: CME launched new South Asia crude palm oil futures and already recorded initial block trades, showing uptake for new contracts and incremental revenue opportunities from expanded product suites. Palm Oil Futures Launch
• Positive Sentiment: Infrastructure partnership: Tickblaze announced integration of CME futures market data into its platform, which can broaden distribution of CME data products to prop trading shops and institutional users. This supports data‑services revenue potential. Tickblaze Partnership
• Neutral Sentiment: Unusually large options activity: a huge spike in call purchases was reported (very large notional / volume vs typical), which could signal speculative bullish positioning but may also be one‑day noise; treat as mixed short‑term signal.
• Neutral Sentiment: Short‑interest data in recent feeds shows zero/NaN entries and 0 days‑to‑cover — this appears to be a reporting anomaly and should not be read as a material change in short demand.
• Negative Sentiment: Ex‑dividend mechanical pressure: the board declared a large combined payout (~$7.45 per share), and the stock adjusted lower on the ex‑dividend date as expected; that mechanical drop is the main proximate cause of today’s decline. Ex‑Dividend Analysis
• Negative Sentiment: Sell pressure from sentiment and flows: recent profit‑taking after strong run, at least one analyst downgrade and large institutional moves (notably big reductions by some asset managers) and reported insider sales have likely added incremental selling pressure. Analyst / Institutional / Insider Notes

CME Group 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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