CME Group Inc. $CME Shares Sold by BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S

Key Points

• BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S cut its CME Group stake by 14.1% in the fourth quarter, selling 6,018 shares and leaving it with 36,763 shares worth about $10.0 million.
• Insiders have also been selling, including CEO Terrence A. Duffy and insider Hilda Harris Piell, with total insider sales over the past three months reaching 44,044 shares valued at $13.3 million.
• CME Group reported solid quarterly results, beating EPS and revenue expectations, and it announced a $1.30 quarterly dividend payable June 25, implying a 2.0% annualized yield.

BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S lessened its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 14.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 36,763 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 6,018 shares during the period. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S's holdings in CME Group were worth $10,039,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of CME. West Family Investments Inc. raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 1.2% in the third quarter. West Family Investments Inc. now owns 3,062 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $827,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Asset Dedication LLC raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 64.9% in the fourth quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 94 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC now owns 11,523 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,147,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 4.3% in the third quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 898 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $243,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Finally, 1248 Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 26.8% in the third quarter. 1248 Management LLC now owns 180 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other CME Group news, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 5,753 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.63, for a total value of $1,752,536.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 27,702 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,438,860.26. This trade represents a 17.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 35,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.51, for a total transaction of $10,447,850.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 55,630 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $16,606,111.30. This trade represents a 38.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 44,044 shares of company stock valued at $13,297,507. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on CME shares. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of CME Group from $343.00 to $316.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of CME Group from $340.00 to $323.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on shares of CME Group from $342.00 to $322.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of CME Group from $356.00 to $349.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of CME Group from $362.00 to $353.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $305.29.

CME Group Trading Up 0.5%

NASDAQ CME opened at $257.40 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $93.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.21. CME Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $244.56 and a 52-week high of $329.16. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $288.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $288.60. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.11 by $0.25. CME Group had a net margin of 63.19% and a return on equity of 15.42%. The firm had revenue of $1.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.77 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.80 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 12.28 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 9th will be issued a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 9th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. CME Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.37%.

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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