Greenwood Capital Associates LLC Has $6.43 Million Stock Holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Greenwood Capital Associates LLC lowered its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 26.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 24,253 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 8,841 shares during the quarter. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC's holdings in CME Group were worth $6,434,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CME. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC grew its position in CME Group by 50.0% in the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 129 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Knuff & Co LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Banque Transatlantique SA acquired a new stake in CME Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, United Community Bank acquired a new position in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Phyllis M. Lockett sold 1,060 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $277.88, for a total transaction of $294,552.80. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,108 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $863,651.04. This trade represents a 25.43% 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 hyperlink. Also, insider Derek Sammann sold 4,650 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.61, for a total value of $1,304,836.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 8,336 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,339,164.96. This trade represents a 35.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 13,400 shares of company stock worth $3,680,610. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

CME Group Trading Down 0.6%

CME stock traded down $1.57 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $269.39. 1,030,762 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,195,112. CME Group Inc. has a one year low of $190.70 and a one year high of $290.79. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $272.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $254.03. The company has a market cap of $97.08 billion, a PE ratio of 27.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.01.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last issued 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. The company had revenue of $1.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.56 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 57.52% and a return on equity of 13.62%. The firm's revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.50 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be issued a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.86%. CME Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.30%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on CME. Bank of America upped their price target on CME Group from $200.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Barclays upped their target price on shares of CME Group from $279.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of CME Group from $223.00 to $211.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Raymond James upgraded CME Group from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $287.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $265.00 to $273.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, CME Group has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $258.20.

CME Group Company 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.