CME Group Inc. $CME Stock Position Reduced by Wilson Asset Management International PTY Ltd.

Key Points

• Wilson Asset Management International cut its stake in CME by 30.5% in Q4, selling 13,728 shares and retaining 31,298 shares valued at $8,547,000 (2.2% of its portfolio).
• Insiders sold 8,539 shares worth $2,713,821 over the past 90 days (notably directors Martin Gepsman and Dennis Suskind), leaving insiders with 0.30% ownership.
• CME beat Q1 estimates with $3.36 EPS vs. $3.11 expected and $1.88B revenue (up 14.5% YoY), and raised its quarterly dividend to $1.30 ($5.20 annualized, ~1.8% yield).

Wilson Asset Management International PTY Ltd. lessened its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 30.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 31,298 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 13,728 shares during the period. CME Group comprises 2.2% of Wilson Asset Management International PTY Ltd.'s portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest position. Wilson Asset Management International PTY Ltd.'s holdings in CME Group were worth $8,547,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Caldwell Trust Co lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 116.3% in the 3rd quarter. Caldwell Trust Co now owns 93 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Asset Dedication LLC boosted its stake in CME Group by 64.9% in the fourth quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 94 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the period. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA acquired a new position in CME Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new position in CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Corundum Trust Company INC acquired a new position in CME Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CME Group news, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 300 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.90, for a total transaction of $91,770.00. Following the sale, the director owned 24,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,647,194.10. The trade was a 1.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Dennis Suskind sold 748 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $224,400.00. Following the sale, the director owned 2,699 shares in the company, valued at $809,700. This trade represents a 21.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 8,539 shares of company stock worth $2,713,821 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CME has been the topic of several recent research reports. Rothschild & Co Redburn cut their price target on CME Group from $340.00 to $316.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 27th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on CME Group from $362.00 to $353.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Piper Sandler raised their price target on CME Group from $313.00 to $329.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Raymond James Financial raised their price target on CME Group from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, April 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on CME Group from $342.00 to $322.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $305.29.

CME Group Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:CME opened at $286.82 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $103.93 billion, a PE ratio of 24.47, a P/E/G ratio of 3.51 and a beta of 0.23. The company's 50-day moving average price is $302.66 and its 200 day moving average price is $286.95. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $257.17 and a fifty-two week high of $329.16. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.11 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.77 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 15.42% and a net margin of 63.19%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.80 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 12.26 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 10th. This is an increase from CME Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. CME Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.37%.

About CME Group

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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