CME Group Inc. $CME Holdings Trimmed by Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC

Key Points

• Allspring Global Investments cut its CME Group stake by 26.2% in the first quarter, selling 25,595 shares and leaving it with 72,048 shares worth about $21.4 million.
• CME Group reported strong first-quarter results, with EPS of $3.36 beating estimates and revenue of $1.88 billion topping expectations; revenue was up 14.5% year over year.
• The company also paid a quarterly dividend of $1.30 per share and drew mixed analyst reactions, with the consensus rating at Moderate Buy and an average price target of $292.12.

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC reduced its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 26.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 72,048 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 25,595 shares during the quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC's holdings in CME Group were worth $21,394,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Independent Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in CME Group during the 1st quarter worth about $361,000. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 918.4% in the 1st quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC now owns 7,801 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,304,000 after purchasing an additional 7,035 shares during the period. Aware Super Pty Ltd as trustee of Aware Super acquired a new position in shares of CME Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $24,051,000. Wealthfront Advisers LLC lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 2.1% in the first quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 66,300 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $19,582,000 after purchasing an additional 1,393 shares in the last quarter. Finally, D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 8.0% in the first quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 33,887 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $10,009,000 after purchasing an additional 2,519 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company's stock.

CME Group Stock Performance

CME stock opened at $245.11 on Tuesday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $88.82 billion, a price-to-earnings 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. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $257.79 and a two-hundred day moving average of $281.93.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.11 by $0.25. CME Group had a net margin of 63.19% and a return on equity of 15.42%. The business had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.77 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.80 EPS. CME Group's revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 12.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 35,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 55,630 shares in the company, valued at $16,606,111.30. This represents a 38.62% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 5,753 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.63, for a total value of $1,752,536.39. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 27,702 shares in the company, valued at $8,438,860.26. The trade was a 17.20% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of 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. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of CME Group from $353.00 to $324.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $320.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of CME Group from $323.00 to $273.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of CME Group from $267.00 to $245.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. 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's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, CME Group currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $292.12.

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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