CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) is CCLA Investment Management's 10th Largest Position

Key Points

• CCLA Investment Management has reduced its stake in CME Group Inc. by 15.2%, now holding approximately 558,379 shares valued at around $148 million.
• CME Group recently reported $2.96 earnings per share for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations by $0.05, and also revealed a 10.4% revenue increase year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $1.25 per share, which reflects an annualized dividend yield of 1.8% and a payout ratio of 48.4%.

CCLA Investment Management reduced its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 15.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 558,379 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 99,730 shares during the period. CME Group comprises about 2.6% of CCLA Investment Management's portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. CCLA Investment Management owned about 0.15% of CME Group worth $148,059,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of CME Group by 89.9% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,280,785 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,923,047,000 after buying an additional 3,921,278 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in CME Group by 32,941.0% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,858,887 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $493,144,000 after acquiring an additional 1,853,261 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its holdings in CME Group by 4,216.2% in the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 922,805 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $214,301,000 after acquiring an additional 901,425 shares in the last quarter. Egerton Capital UK LLP increased its holdings in CME Group by 79.4% in the 1st quarter. Egerton Capital UK LLP now owns 1,730,194 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $459,003,000 after acquiring an additional 765,773 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in CME Group by 29.9% during the first quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,818,590 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $747,744,000 after acquiring an additional 648,591 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of CME stock opened at $280.76 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The company has a market capitalization of $101.17 billion, a PE ratio of 27.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.99 and a beta of 0.44. The firm's 50-day moving average is $276.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $264.14. CME Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $196.62 and a 12 month high of $290.79.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.91 by $0.05. CME Group had a net margin of 58.48% and a return on equity of 14.60%. The business had revenue of $1.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.68 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.56 EPS. The business's revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th were given a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 9th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. CME Group's payout ratio is currently 48.40%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on CME. Oppenheimer lifted their target price 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. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on CME Group from $283.00 to $296.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Citigroup raised their target price on CME Group from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on CME Group from $265.00 to $273.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Erste Group Bank lowered CME Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $261.93.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other CME Group news, Director William R. Shepard purchased 256 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 25th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $270.53 per share, for a total transaction of $69,255.68. Following the acquisition, the director owned 258,196 shares in the company, valued at $69,849,763.88. This trade represents a 0.10% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Charles P. Carey sold 500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $265.35, for a total value of $132,675.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 4,900 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,300,215. The trade was a 9.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 10,400 shares of company stock valued at $2,881,130. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.

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