CME Group Inc. $CME Shares Sold by The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company

Key Points

• The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company reduced its CME Group stake by 6.5%, selling 16,152 shares and retaining 230,640 shares valued at approximately $68.1 million. Institutional investors collectively own 87.75% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed, with CME carrying an overall “Hold” rating and an average price target of $291.81. Recent actions included price-target cuts from Deutsche Bank, Barclays and Goldman Sachs, while Wall Street Zen downgraded the stock to “Sell.”
• CME Group reported quarterly earnings of $2.99 per share, exceeding estimates of $2.91, while revenue rose 0.8% year over year to $1.71 billion. The company also maintains a quarterly dividend of $1.30 per share, equivalent to a 2.0% yield.

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company cut its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 6.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 230,640 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 16,152 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned approximately 0.06% of CME Group worth $68,120,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of CME. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in CME Group by 11.5% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 10,027 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,660,000 after purchasing an additional 1,037 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its holdings in CME Group by 103.1% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 3,692 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,018,000 after buying an additional 121,707 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its holdings in CME Group by 1,325.2% in the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 23,572 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $6,497,000 after buying an additional 21,918 shares in the last quarter. Nebula Research & Development LLC purchased a new position in CME Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $992,000. Finally, ICW Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of CME Group by 6.3% during the second quarter. ICW Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,304 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $359,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CME has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen cut CME Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Sunday, July 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of CME Group from $342.00 to $322.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of CME Group from $316.00 to $270.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of CME Group from $267.00 to $245.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, Erste Group Bank lowered CME Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, June 5th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $291.81.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other CME Group news, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 35,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.51, for a total value of $10,447,850.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 55,630 shares of the company's stock, valued at $16,606,111.30. This trade represents a 38.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 5,753 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.63, for a total value of $1,752,536.39. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 27,702 shares in the company, valued at $8,438,860.26. The trade was a 17.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

CME Group Stock Up 2.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:CME opened at $265.44 on Thursday. CME Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $218.31 and a 1-year high of $329.16. The company's fifty day moving average is $251.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $281.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $96.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.25.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.99 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.91 by $0.08. CME Group had a net margin of 63.30% and a return on equity of 15.60%. The firm had revenue of $1.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.68 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.96 earnings per share. CME Group's quarterly revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 12.27 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 9th were given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 9th. CME Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 44.11%.

CME Group Profile

CME Group Inc is a global markets company that operates some of the world's largest and most liquid derivatives exchanges, including the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) and COMEX. The firm offers futures and options contracts across a broad range of asset classes — including interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, energy, agricultural commodities and metals — and serves a diverse client base of institutional investors, commercial hedgers, brokers and retail participants.

The company's core services include electronic trading on the CME Globex platform, central clearing through CME Clearing, and distribution of market data, indexes and analytics.

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