CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Shares Sold by CORDA Investment Management LLC.

CORDA Investment Management LLC. lowered its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 1.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 226,569 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 3,676 shares during the quarter. CME Group makes up about 4.8% of CORDA Investment Management LLC.'s holdings, making the stock its largest holding. CORDA Investment Management LLC. owned 0.06% of CME Group worth $60,107,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,243,090 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $7,952,273,000 after acquiring an additional 326,623 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,389,442 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,946,717,000 after acquiring an additional 104,697 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 3,921,278 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,107,389,000. Finally, FIL Ltd increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 4,081,391 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $947,821,000 after purchasing an additional 61,908 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company's stock.

CME Group Trading Down 0.0%

CME stock traded down $0.11 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $275.08. 1,531,570 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,181,193. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $276.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $259.37. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $99.13 billion, a PE ratio of 27.67, a P/E/G ratio of 4.44 and a beta of 0.44. CME Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $193.25 and a 1-year high of $290.79.

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

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th were given a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 9th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.82%. CME Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 50.30%.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other news, insider Derek Sammann sold 4,650 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.61, for a total transaction of $1,304,836.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 8,336 shares in the company, valued at $2,339,164.96. This trade represents a 35.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Phyllis M. Lockett sold 1,060 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $277.88, for a total value of $294,552.80. Following the transaction, the director owned 3,108 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $863,651.04. This represents a 25.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 13,400 shares of company stock valued at $3,680,610. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on CME Group from $223.00 to $211.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Barclays increased their price target on CME Group from $283.00 to $299.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday. Citigroup increased their price target on CME Group from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Bank of America increased their price target on CME Group from $200.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and issued a $269.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $260.93.

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.