DnB Asset Management AS Sells 11,056 Shares of CME Group Inc. $CME

Key Points

• DnB Asset Management AS has reduced its stake in CME Group Inc. by 8.0%, now owning 127,925 shares valued at approximately $33.94 million after selling 11,056 shares in the first quarter.
• CME Group recently reported earnings of $2.96 per share, exceeding expectations, with revenues increasing by 10.4% year-over-year, reaching $1.69 billion for the quarter.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.25 per share, representing an annualized yield of 1.9%, with record shareholders to be paid on September 25th.

DnB Asset Management AS trimmed its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 8.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 127,925 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 11,056 shares during the period. DnB Asset Management AS's holdings in CME Group were worth $33,937,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wayfinding Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of CME Group in the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of CME Group by 122.2% in the first quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 100 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the period. Golden State Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of CME Group by 612.5% in the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the period. Alpine Bank Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of CME Group in the first quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of CME Group in the first quarter valued at about $32,000. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of CME Group from $305.00 to $285.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of CME Group from $283.00 to $296.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Barclays set a $298.00 price target on shares of CME Group and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of CME Group from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. Finally, Erste Group Bank lowered shares of CME Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $260.60.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of CME Group stock traded down $1.92 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $259.61. The company had a trading volume of 527,487 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,297,213. 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 $93.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.75 and a beta of 0.43. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $274.42 and a 200 day simple moving average of $270.18. CME Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $212.38 and a 1-year high of $290.79.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.91 by $0.05. CME Group had a net margin of 58.48% and a return on equity of 14.60%. The firm had revenue of $1.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.68 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.56 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 9th will be given a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 9th. CME Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.40%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CME Group news, Director William R. Shepard purchased 256 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 25th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $270.53 per share, for a total transaction of $69,255.68. Following the purchase, the director owned 258,196 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $69,849,763.88. This represents a 0.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Sunil Cutinho sold 11,896 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.47, for a total transaction of $3,229,407.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 17,440 shares in the company, valued at $4,734,436.80. The trade was a 40.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

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.