CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Position Reduced by Farmers Trust Co.

Farmers Trust Co. lessened its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 3.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 30,042 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 1,092 shares during the period. CME Group accounts for approximately 1.5% of Farmers Trust Co.'s portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Farmers Trust Co.'s holdings in CME Group were worth $7,970,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 1.0% in 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 purchasing an additional 326,623 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 1.3% in 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 purchasing an additional 104,697 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position 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 buying an additional 3,921,278 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,107,389,000. Finally, FIL Ltd raised its position 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 buying an additional 61,908 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.83, for a total value of $385,245.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 8,036 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,063,885.88. This represents a 15.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 300 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $273.17, for a total transaction of $81,951.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 24,767 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,765,601.39. This trade represents a 1.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 24,400 shares of company stock worth $6,533,180. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

CME Group Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of CME Group stock traded up $1.82 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $287.69. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,721,408 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,186,848. CME Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $190.70 and a 1-year high of $290.10. The business has a fifty day moving average of $269.98 and a 200 day moving average of $251.08. The company has a market capitalization of $103.67 billion, a PE ratio of 29.75, a P/E/G ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.61 by $0.19. CME Group had a net margin of 57.52% and a return on equity of 13.62%. The company had revenue of $1.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.56 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.50 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be paid a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.74%. CME Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.30%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on CME shares. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $269.00 to $279.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $200.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of CME Group from $223.00 to $211.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $275.00 to $283.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $279.00 to $283.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, CME Group currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $256.80.

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.