CME Group Inc. $CME Shares Sold by Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD

Key Points

• Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD reduced its stake in CME Group by 34.2% during the first quarter, selling nearly 2.8 million shares and retaining around 5.4 million shares valued at approximately $1.45 billion.
• CME Group recently reported earnings of $2.96 per share for the last quarter, exceeding analyst expectations of $2.91, with quarterly revenue up 10.4% year-over-year, totaling $1.69 billion.
• The firm announced a quarterly dividend of $1.25 per share, which will be distributed on September 25th, representing an annualized total of $5.00 and a yield of 1.8%.

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD reduced its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 34.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,448,310 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 2,832,475 shares during the quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned 1.51% of CME Group worth $1,445,383,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of CME. Martingale Asset Management L P grew its position in CME Group by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P now owns 12,214 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,240,000 after buying an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Candriam S.C.A. lifted its stake in shares of CME Group by 20.6% in the 1st quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 83,044 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $22,031,000 after acquiring an additional 14,160 shares during the period. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 10.5% in the first quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 4,766 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,264,000 after acquiring an additional 451 shares in the last quarter. Aspire Growth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 26.1% in the first quarter. Aspire Growth Partners LLC now owns 2,975 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $847,000 after acquiring an additional 616 shares in the last quarter. Finally, T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 1,927.1% during the first quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 521,218 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $138,274,000 after acquiring an additional 495,505 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company's stock.

CME Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ CME opened at $274.61 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $275.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $267.90. The company has a market capitalization of $98.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.58, a PEG ratio of 4.91 and a beta of 0.44. CME Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $206.44 and a 1-year high of $290.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.91 by $0.05. CME Group had a return on equity of 14.60% and a net margin of 58.48%.The company had revenue of $1.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.68 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.56 earnings per share. CME Group's quarterly revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 9th will be given a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 9th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. CME Group's payout ratio is presently 48.40%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Charles P. Carey sold 500 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $265.35, for a total transaction of $132,675.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 4,900 shares in the company, valued at $1,300,215. The trade was a 9.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director William R. Shepard bought 256 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 25th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $270.53 per share, for a total transaction of $69,255.68. Following the purchase, the director owned 258,196 shares in the company, valued at $69,849,763.88. This represents a 0.10% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on CME shares. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $300.00 to $303.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Erste Group Bank cut CME Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Citigroup lifted their price target on CME Group from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on CME Group from $223.00 to $211.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded CME Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Sunday, July 13th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $261.93.

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.

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