Capital Fund Management S.A. Sells 155,746 Shares of CME Group Inc. $CME

Key Points

• Capital Fund Management S.A. reduced its stake in CME Group Inc. by 71.2%, selling 155,746 shares and now holding 63,008 shares valued at approximately $16.7 million.
• Wall Street analysts have mixed views on CME Group, with price targets ranging from $211 to $305 and a current consensus rating of "Hold".
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $1.25 per share, with an annualized dividend yielding 1.8%, and plans to pay this dividend on September 25th.

Capital Fund Management S.A. lowered its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 71.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 63,008 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 155,746 shares during the quarter. Capital Fund Management S.A.'s holdings in CME Group were worth $16,715,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Heartland Bank & Trust Co bought a new stake in CME Group during the first quarter worth $377,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 256.9% in the 1st quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,662 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $971,000 after buying an additional 2,636 shares during the last quarter. OMNI 360 Wealth Inc. purchased a new position in shares of CME Group in the 1st quarter worth approximately $367,000. Fulcrum Equity Management purchased a new position in shares of CME Group in the 1st quarter worth approximately $258,000. Finally, AIA Group Ltd grew its stake in CME Group by 17.8% in the 1st quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 16,645 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $4,416,000 after purchasing an additional 2,510 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company's stock.

CME Group Price Performance

CME traded up $1.7260 during trading on Monday, reaching $271.2460. 911,241 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,316,455. The company's 50-day moving average is $275.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $268.67. The company has a market cap of $97.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.25, a P/E/G ratio of 4.88 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. CME Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $207.10 and a 12-month high of $290.79.

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

CME Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 9th will be issued a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 9th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. CME Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.40%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on CME shares. Erste Group Bank downgraded CME Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Barclays set a $298.00 price target on CME Group and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. 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 note on Tuesday, July 15th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on CME Group from $300.00 to $303.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on CME Group from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, CME Group has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $261.93.

Insider Activity

In other CME Group news, Director Charles P. Carey sold 500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $265.35, for a total value of $132,675.00. Following the sale, the director owned 4,900 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,300,215. This trade represents a 9.26% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director William R. Shepard purchased 256 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 25th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $270.53 per share, for a total transaction of $69,255.68. Following the acquisition, the director owned 258,196 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,849,763.88. This represents a 0.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

CME Group Company 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.