CME Group Inc. $CME Shares Sold by APG Asset Management N.V.

Key Points

• APG Asset Management N.V. reduced its stake in CME Group Inc. by 47.1%, selling 222,715 shares and retaining 249,695 shares worth approximately $61.3 million.
• Analysts have mixed ratings for CME Group, with four Buy, nine Hold, and three Sell ratings, and a consensus price target of $261.93.
• CME Group announced a quarterly dividend of $1.25, reflecting a 1.9% dividend yield for this fiscal period.

APG Asset Management N.V. decreased its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 47.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 249,695 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 222,715 shares during the period. APG Asset Management N.V. owned approximately 0.07% of CME Group worth $61,323,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of CME. Wayfinding Financial LLC purchased a new position in CME Group in the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC boosted 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 boosted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Alpine Bank Wealth Management purchased a new position in CME Group in the first quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in CME Group in the first quarter valued at about $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In other CME Group news, Director William R. Shepard bought 256 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 25th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $270.53 per share, for a total transaction of $69,255.68. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 258,196 shares in the company, valued at $69,849,763.88. The trade was a 0.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Sunil Cutinho sold 11,896 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.47, for a total value of $3,229,407.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 17,440 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,734,436.80. This 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 owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on CME shares. Oppenheimer increased their price target on CME Group from $300.00 to $303.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Erste Group Bank cut CME Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on CME Group from $283.00 to $296.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Citigroup upped their price objective on CME Group from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Finally, Barclays set a $298.00 price objective on CME Group and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, CME Group currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $261.93.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME Group stock traded down $1.49 on Wednesday, reaching $270.12. 1,397,216 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,322,688. 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 50-day moving average is $275.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $268.87. The firm has a market cap of $97.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.15, a P/E/G ratio of 4.91 and a beta of 0.44. CME Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $207.75 and a 1-year high of $290.79.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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. CME Group had a return on equity of 14.60% and a net margin of 58.48%.The firm had revenue of $1.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.68 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.56 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share 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 $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 9th. CME Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.