CME Group Inc. $CME Shares Sold by Mawer Investment Management Ltd.

Key Points

• Mawer Investment Management cut its CME Group stake by 16.1% in the third quarter, selling 154,303 shares and ending the period with 801,639 shares valued at about $210 million.
• Analyst views were mixed: JPMorgan upgraded CME to overweight, while the overall consensus rating remained Hold, with an average price target of $314.44.
• CME Group beat quarterly earnings and revenue estimates, with revenue up 10.6% year over year, and announced a quarterly dividend of $1.30 per share.

Mawer Investment Management Ltd. lessened its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 16.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 801,639 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 154,303 shares during the quarter. CME Group makes up about 1.5% of Mawer Investment Management Ltd.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. owned about 0.22% of CME Group worth $210,013,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ibex Wealth Advisors grew its position in shares of CME Group by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Ibex Wealth Advisors now owns 35,998 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $9,431,000 after buying an additional 289 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 13.9% in the 3rd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 1,268 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $332,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. Patrick Mauro Investment Advisor INC. lifted its position in CME Group by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Patrick Mauro Investment Advisor INC. now owns 54,600 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $14,304,000 after acquiring an additional 1,898 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP lifted its position in CME Group by 26.4% during the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 69,524 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $18,214,000 after acquiring an additional 14,501 shares during the period. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its position in CME Group by 7.6% during the 3rd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,193,085 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $312,605,000 after acquiring an additional 83,770 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on CME. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of CME Group from an "underweight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $367.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of CME Group from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. CLSA set a $367.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of CME Group from $226.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of CME Group from $292.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, October 5th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $314.44.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Martin Gepsman sold 400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $302.50, for a total transaction of $121,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 25,244 shares in the company, valued at $7,636,310. This represents a 1.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Julie Winkler sold 10,079 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.15, for a total transaction of $3,075,606.85. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 21,482 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,555,232.30. This trade represents a 31.93% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 33,511 shares of company stock valued at $9,714,580. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

CME Group Stock Up 0.8%

CME Group stock traded up $2.47 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $317.97. The stock had a trading volume of 1,579,861 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,061,318. The company has a market capitalization of $113.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.08, a PEG ratio of 3.85 and a beta of 0.15. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $286.01 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $281.54. CME Group Inc. has a one year low of $218.31 and a one year high of $329.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 21st. The financial services provider reported $3.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.99 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 63.33% and a return on equity of 16.23%. CME Group's revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.68 EPS. On average, analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 12.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 11th will be paid a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 11th. CME Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 42.66%.

About CME Group

CME Group operates a global marketplace for derivatives and other financial products. Through its exchanges—CME, CBOT, NYMEX and COMEX—it offers futures and options contracts tied to interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, energy, agricultural products and metals. The company also provides clearing and settlement services, market data and related products. Its electronic trading platform, CME Globex, supports access to its markets by participants around the world, alongside its open-outcry and privately negotiated trading services.

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