CME Group Inc. $CME Shares Sold by Scharf Investments LLC

Key Points

• Scharf Investments LLC reduced its stake in CME Group by 0.4%, holding 440,229 shares worth approximately $121.34 million, making it the firm's 12th largest position.
• Several institutional investors, including Great Lakes Advisors LLC and SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC, have increased their positions in CME Group, reflecting strong institutional interest where 87.75% of the company's stock is held by such entities.
• CME Group declared a $1.25 quarterly dividend, payable on September 25th, with an annualized amount of $5.00 and a yield of 1.9%, highlighting its ongoing commitment to returning value to shareholders.

Scharf Investments LLC cut its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 440,229 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 1,949 shares during the quarter. CME Group comprises about 3.5% of Scharf Investments LLC's holdings, making the stock its 12th largest position. Scharf Investments LLC owned about 0.12% of CME Group worth $121,340,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Heartland Bank & Trust Co bought a new position in CME Group in the 1st quarter worth about $377,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 2,636 shares during the period. OMNI 360 Wealth Inc. bought a new position in CME Group in the 1st quarter worth about $367,000. Fulcrum Equity Management bought a new position in CME Group in the 1st quarter worth about $258,000. Finally, AIA Group Ltd grew its position in CME Group by 17.8% during the first quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 16,645 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $4,416,000 after buying an additional 2,510 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In related news, insider Timothy Francis Mccourt sold 379 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $259.83, for a total value of $98,475.57. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 9,508 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,470,463.64. The trade was a 3.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Sunil Cutinho sold 11,896 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.47, for a total value of $3,229,407.12. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 17,440 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,734,436.80. The trade was a 40.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 13,043 shares of company stock worth $3,527,956. Insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

CME Group Stock Performance

CME Group stock traded down $0.45 during trading on Monday, reaching $261.08. The company had a trading volume of 1,143,012 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,903,585. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $271.66 and its 200 day simple moving average is $270.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $94.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.73 and a beta of 0.43. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $212.60 and a 52 week 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 for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.91 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.68 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 14.60% and a net margin of 58.48%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.56 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 9th will be paid a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 9th. CME Group's payout ratio is currently 48.40%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on CME. Wall Street Zen cut CME Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Sunday, July 13th. Barclays set a $298.00 price objective on CME Group and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on CME Group from $300.00 to $303.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Citigroup boosted their target price 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, Piper Sandler upped their price target on CME Group from $283.00 to $296.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Four research 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.com, CME Group has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $260.60.

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.