CME Group Inc. $CME Shares Sold by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 2.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 872,899 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 23,635 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned about 0.24% of CME Group worth $228,682,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in CME Group in the second quarter worth $612,000. Focus Financial Network Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,513,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new stake in CME Group in the 2nd quarter worth about $53,671,000. Haverford Trust Co bought a new position in shares of CME Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $13,818,000. Finally, Bowie Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in CME Group in the second quarter worth about $22,991,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. CLSA set a $367.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of CME Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $286.00 to $270.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. UBS Group raised their price target on CME Group from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Weiss Ratings upgraded CME Group from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a report on Friday, October 23rd. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on CME Group from $226.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $314.44.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of CME opened at $303.14 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The company has a market capitalization of $108.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.87, a PEG ratio of 3.70 and a beta of 0.24. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $280.34 and its 200-day moving average price is $280.01. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $218.31 and a 52 week high of $329.16.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The financial services provider reported $3.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.99 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 16.23% and a net margin of 63.33%. CME Group's revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.68 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 12.34 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 9th were given a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 9th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. CME Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.66%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Sunil Cutinho sold 5,000 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.70, for a total value of $1,493,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 20,037 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,985,051.90. The trade was a 19.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Elizabeth A. Cook sold 500 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.11, for a total transaction of $140,055.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 17,916 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,018,450.76. This trade represents a 2.72% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 20,900 shares of company stock worth $5,871,155. Insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

About CME Group

CME Group Inc operates global derivatives marketplaces that provide trading, clearing and settlement services for futures and options contracts. Its products cover major asset classes, including interest rates, equity indexes, foreign currencies, agricultural commodities, energy and metals. The company also provides market data, benchmark information and related services used by financial institutions, corporations, producers, investors and other market participants.

CME Group's exchange portfolio includes CME, the Chicago Board of Trade, the New York Mercantile Exchange and COMEX.

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