AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc Sells 23,736 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc cut its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 7.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 302,362 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 23,736 shares during the period. CME Group makes up about 1.2% of AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc's investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc owned about 0.08% of CME Group worth $80,066,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in CME. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC increased its position in shares of CME Group by 108.7% during the 4th quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 12,390 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,949,000 after purchasing an additional 6,453 shares during the period. Unified Investment Management bought a new position in CME Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $503,000. Spire Wealth Management boosted its stake in CME Group by 37.4% during the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 1,320 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $307,000 after buying an additional 359 shares in the last quarter. Aspire Growth Partners LLC acquired a new position in CME Group during the fourth quarter worth about $548,000. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in CME Group by 18.8% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,169,999 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $503,939,000 after acquiring an additional 343,498 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In related news, Director Howard J. Siegel sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total value of $2,600,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 21,873 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,686,980. This trade represents a 31.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Daniel G. Kaye sold 500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.42, for a total value of $141,210.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,668 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,035,916.56. This trade represents a 12.00% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 22,900 shares of company stock worth $6,147,935 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

CME Group Stock Performance

CME traded down $2.98 during trading on Thursday, reaching $274.90. 1,957,764 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,349,492. The company has a market capitalization of $99.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.43, a PEG ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $271.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $252.28. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $190.70 and a fifty-two week high of $290.79.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.61 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $1.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.56 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.62% and a net margin of 57.52%. The business's revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.50 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th will be issued a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.82%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. CME Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 50.30%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on CME. Raymond James raised 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. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of CME Group from $200.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on CME Group from $282.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on CME Group from $301.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a $269.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $258.20.

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.