Haverford Trust Co Decreases Stock Position in CME Group Inc. $CME

Key Points

• Haverford Trust Co reduced its position in CME Group by 1.3%, owning 69,130 shares worth approximately $18.34 million after the sale of 944 shares in the 1st quarter.
• Several other hedge funds increased their stakes in CME Group, notably Golden State Wealth Management LLC, which raised its position by 612.5%, now owning 114 shares valued at around $30,000.
• Analysts have set diverse price targets for CME Group, with Piper Sandler raising it from $283.00 to $296.00, while Wall Street Zen downgraded it from "hold" to "sell."

Haverford Trust Co cut its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 1.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 69,130 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 944 shares during the period. Haverford Trust Co's holdings in CME Group were worth $18,339,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Wayfinding Financial LLC purchased a new position in CME Group in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC grew its holdings in CME Group by 122.2% in the first quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 100 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of CME Group by 612.5% in the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Alpine Bank Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of CME Group during the 1st quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 1st quarter worth about $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CME has been the topic of several research reports. Barclays set a $298.00 price target on shares of CME Group and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $305.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Citigroup raised their price target on CME Group from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. Erste Group Bank cut CME Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price objective on CME Group from $300.00 to $303.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $261.93.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In other CME Group news, Director William R. Shepard bought 256 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 25th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $270.53 per share, for a total transaction of $69,255.68. Following the acquisition, the director owned 258,196 shares of the company's stock, valued at $69,849,763.88. The trade was a 0.10% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Sunil Cutinho sold 11,896 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.47, for a total transaction of $3,229,407.12. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 17,440 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,734,436.80. This trade represents a 40.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

CME Group Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of CME traded down $1.49 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $270.12. The stock had a trading volume of 1,397,212 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,322,688. CME Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $207.75 and a 12-month high of $290.79. The firm has a market cap of $97.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.15, a P/E/G ratio of 4.91 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $275.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $268.87.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.96 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.91 by $0.05. The company 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 firm's revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.56 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 25th. Investors 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 yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 9th. CME Group's dividend payout ratio is 48.40%.

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.