Conning Inc. decreased its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 7.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 115,274 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 9,086 shares during the period. Conning Inc.'s holdings in CME Group were worth $34,046,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,895,583 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $9,802,366,000 after purchasing an additional 588,509 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in CME Group by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,144,525 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $4,408,747,000 after buying an additional 56,725 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of CME Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,523,241,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,924,475 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,344,776,000 after buying an additional 134,242 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of CME Group by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,812,914 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,300,450,000 after acquiring an additional 130,848 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of CME Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, June 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of CME Group from $267.00 to $245.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised CME Group from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $305.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Raymond James Financial reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $320.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of CME Group from $356.00 to $349.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $293.59.
Check Out Our Latest Report on CME
Insider Transactions at CME Group
In related news, Director William R. Shepard bought 325 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 25th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $230.57 per share, for a total transaction of $74,935.25. Following the purchase, the director owned 260,442 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $60,050,111.94. The trade was a 0.12% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 35,000 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.51, for a total transaction of $10,447,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 55,630 shares of the company's stock, valued at $16,606,111.30. This represents a 38.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.
CME Group Price Performance
Shares of NASDAQ:CME opened at $240.27 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $87.06 billion, a PE ratio of 20.50, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.25. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $262.66 and a 200-day moving average price of $283.19. CME Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $218.31 and a 1-year high of $329.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02.
CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.11 by $0.25. CME Group had a net margin of 63.19% and a return on equity of 15.42%. The business had revenue of $1.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.77 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.80 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 12.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.
CME Group Announces Dividend
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 9th were issued a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 9th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. CME Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.37%.
More CME Group News
Here are the key news stories impacting CME Group this week:
CME Group Profile
(
Free Report)
CME Group Inc is a global markets company that operates some of the world's largest and most liquid derivatives exchanges, including the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) and COMEX. The firm offers futures and options contracts across a broad range of asset classes — including interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, energy, agricultural commodities and metals — and serves a diverse client base of institutional investors, commercial hedgers, brokers and retail participants.
The company's core services include electronic trading on the CME Globex platform, central clearing through CME Clearing, and distribution of market data, indexes and analytics.
Further Reading
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