CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) is Cooper Investors PTY Ltd.'s 3rd Largest Position

Cooper Investors PTY Ltd. lessened its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 4.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 127,313 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 6,596 shares during the period. CME Group makes up about 5.5% of Cooper Investors PTY Ltd.'s holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Cooper Investors PTY Ltd.'s holdings in CME Group were worth $33,775,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC boosted its position in CME Group by 50.0% during the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 129 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the period. Knuff & Co LLC bought a new position in CME Group in the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Banque Transatlantique SA bought a new position in CME Group in the 4th quarter worth $35,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in CME Group in the 4th quarter worth $37,000. Finally, United Community Bank bought a new position in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter worth about $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on CME. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of CME Group from $223.00 to $211.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and set a $269.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of CME Group from $301.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of CME Group from $279.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of CME Group from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $287.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $258.20.

CME Group Stock Performance

CME opened at $272.66 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $98.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.43, a PEG ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a fifty day moving average of $274.35 and a 200 day moving average of $255.81. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $192.11 and a fifty-two week high of $290.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.61 by $0.19. CME Group had a net margin of 57.71% and a return on equity of 14.03%. The business had revenue of $1.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.56 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.50 EPS. The business's revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be issued a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.83%. CME Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.30%.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other CME Group news, Director Charles P. Carey sold 500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $265.35, for a total value of $132,675.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,900 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,300,215. The trade was a 9.26% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Dennis Suskind sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.28, for a total transaction of $271,280.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 2,915 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $790,781.20. This trade represents a 25.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 13,400 shares of company stock worth $3,680,610. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About CME Group

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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