CME Group Inc. $CME Shares Sold by DRW Securities LLC

Key Points

• DRW Securities LLC significantly reduced its stake in CME Group Inc. by 67.4% during the first quarter, now holding 953 shares valued at $253,000.
• Several hedge funds made substantial moves in CME Group, with GQG Partners LLC increasing its stake by 7,676.3% to hold over 2.2 million shares.
• CME Group announced a quarterly dividend of $1.25, representing an annualized yield of 1.9%, with a dividend payout ratio of 48.40%.

DRW Securities LLC decreased its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 67.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 953 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 1,972 shares during the quarter. DRW Securities LLC's holdings in CME Group were worth $253,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Heartland Bank & Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of CME Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $377,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 256.9% during the 1st quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,662 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $971,000 after acquiring an additional 2,636 shares during the last quarter. OMNI 360 Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in shares of CME Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $367,000. Fulcrum Equity Management acquired a new position in shares of CME Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $258,000. Finally, AIA Group Ltd boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 17.8% during the 1st quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 16,645 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $4,416,000 after acquiring an additional 2,510 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company's stock.

CME Group Trading Down 2.1%

NASDAQ:CME traded down $5.49 on Friday, reaching $261.94. 1,633,679 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,882,480. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $94.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.84 and a beta of 0.43. The business has a fifty day moving average of $274.96 and a 200-day moving average of $269.86. CME Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $212.38 and a 52-week high of $290.79.

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

CME Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 9th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. CME Group's dividend payout ratio is 48.40%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Charles P. Carey sold 500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $265.35, for a total transaction of $132,675.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 4,900 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,300,215. This represents a 9.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director William R. Shepard bought 256 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 25th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $270.53 per share, for a total transaction of $69,255.68. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 258,196 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $69,849,763.88. This trade represents a 0.10% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $305.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of CME Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Sunday, July 13th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of CME Group from $300.00 to $303.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of CME Group from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of CME Group from $283.00 to $296.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, CME Group presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $261.93.

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.