Cary Street Partners Financial LLC Decreases Stock Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Key Points

• Cary Street Partners Financial LLC reduced its stake in CME Group Inc. by 1.7%, owning 60,769 shares valued at approximately $16.12 million post-sale.
• Analysts have varied price targets for CME Group, with Barclays setting a target of $298 and JPMorgan cutting theirs to $211, resulting in an average target of $261.93.
• CME Group reported earnings of $2.96 per share for the last quarter, exceeding expectations and showing a 10.4% revenue increase compared to the previous year.

Cary Street Partners Financial LLC decreased its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 1.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 60,769 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 1,059 shares during the period. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC's holdings in CME Group were worth $16,121,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in CME Group by 89.9% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,280,785 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,923,047,000 after acquiring an additional 3,921,278 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in CME Group by 32,941.0% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,858,887 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $493,144,000 after acquiring an additional 1,853,261 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of CME Group by 4,216.2% in the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 922,805 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $214,301,000 after acquiring an additional 901,425 shares in the last quarter. Egerton Capital UK LLP lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 79.4% during the 1st quarter. Egerton Capital UK LLP now owns 1,730,194 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $459,003,000 after purchasing an additional 765,773 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 29.9% during the 1st quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,818,590 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $747,744,000 after buying an additional 648,591 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director William R. Shepard bought 256 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 25th. The stock was bought at an average price of $270.53 per share, with a total value of $69,255.68. Following 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 this link. Also, Director Phyllis M. Lockett sold 1,060 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $277.88, for a total value of $294,552.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 3,108 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $863,651.04. This represents a 25.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 5,750 shares of company stock worth $1,576,294. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

CME Group Price Performance

NASDAQ CME traded down $0.40 on Thursday, reaching $280.95. 1,675,975 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,046,526. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. CME Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $202.35 and a 12 month high of $290.79. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $275.95 and a 200 day simple moving average of $265.32. The stock has a market cap of $101.25 billion, a PE ratio of 27.20, a P/E/G ratio of 5.00 and a beta of 0.44.

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

CME Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 9th will be given a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. CME Group's payout ratio is 48.40%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on CME shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of CME Group from $223.00 to $211.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of CME Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Sunday, July 13th. Barclays set a $298.00 target price on CME Group and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on CME Group from $301.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price target on CME Group from $283.00 to $296.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $261.93.

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.