CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Shares Sold by Invesco Ltd.

Key Points

• Invesco Ltd. reduced its stake in CME Group Inc. by 29.4% in the first quarter, holding approximately 2.85 million shares valued at $756.55 million after selling over 1.18 million shares.
• CME Group's stock received a mix of ratings, with four analysts rating it as a sell and nine issuing hold ratings, leading to a current consensus rating of "Hold."
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $1.25 per share, reflecting a 1.8% yield, with the next payment scheduled for September 25th.

Invesco Ltd. lowered its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 29.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 2,851,788 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 1,189,932 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. owned about 0.79% of CME Group worth $756,551,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Wayfinding Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of CME Group in the first quarter worth about $25,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC grew its stake in CME Group by 122.2% during the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 100 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in CME Group by 612.5% in the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Alpine Bank Wealth Management purchased a new position in CME Group in the 1st quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in CME Group in the 1st quarter worth approximately $32,000. 87.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on CME. Wall Street Zen cut CME Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Sunday, July 13th. Erste Group Bank cut shares of CME Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of CME Group from $223.00 to $211.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of CME Group from $300.00 to $303.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of CME Group from $301.00 to $304.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $261.93.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Daniel G. Kaye sold 500 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.42, for a total transaction of $141,210.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 3,668 shares in the company, valued at $1,035,916.56. The trade was a 12.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus sold 390 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $277.50, for a total transaction of $108,225.00. Following the sale, the general counsel owned 6,708 shares in the company, valued at $1,861,470. This trade represents a 5.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 5,750 shares of company stock worth $1,576,294 over the last ninety days. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CME opened at $282.21 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The company has a market capitalization of $101.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.44. CME Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $203.77 and a twelve month high of $290.79. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $275.84 and a 200-day simple moving average of $265.90.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last issued its 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. The firm had revenue of $1.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.68 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 58.48% and a return on equity of 14.60%. CME Group's revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.56 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 9th will be paid a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. CME Group's payout ratio is currently 48.40%.

CME Group Company 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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding CME? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.