Emmett Investment Management LP Cuts Stake in CME Group Inc. $CME

Key Points

• Emmett Investment Management LP reduced its stake in CME Group Inc. by 20.6%, selling 4,915 shares and bringing its total holdings to 18,960 shares worth approximately $4.97 million.
• Recent analyst ratings on CME Group suggest a consensus "Hold" rating, with target prices set between $261.93 and $304.00 by various institutions including Morgan Stanley and Keefe, Bruyette & Woods.
• CME Group announced a quarterly dividend of $1.25 per share to be paid on September 25, reflecting an annualized yield of 1.8% and a payout ratio of 48.40%.

Emmett Investment Management LP trimmed its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 20.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,960 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 4,915 shares during the quarter. CME Group comprises approximately 4.5% of Emmett Investment Management LP's holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Emmett Investment Management LP's holdings in CME Group were worth $4,972,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CME. Wayfinding Financial LLC purchased a new stake in CME Group during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC grew its holdings 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 buying an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in CME Group by 612.5% during the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Alpine Bank Wealth Management purchased a new stake in CME Group during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in CME Group during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $32,000. 87.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other news, Director Charles P. Carey sold 500 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $265.35, for a total transaction of $132,675.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 4,900 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,300,215. This trade represents a 9.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director William R. Shepard bought 256 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 25th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $270.53 per share, with a total value of $69,255.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 258,196 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $69,849,763.88. The trade was a 0.10% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays set a $298.00 target price on CME Group and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on CME Group from $300.00 to $303.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $305.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Wall Street Zen downgraded CME Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Sunday, July 13th. Finally, Erste Group Bank downgraded CME Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $261.93.

CME Group Trading Down 1.4%

CME traded down $3.80 during trading on Friday, reaching $269.52. The company had a trading volume of 1,591,589 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,923,555. The stock has a market cap of $97.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.09, a PEG ratio of 4.88 and a beta of 0.44. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $275.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $268.50. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $206.44 and a 52 week high of $290.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.68 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 14.60% and a net margin of 58.48%.CME Group's revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.56 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 9th. CME Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.40%.

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.