Grove Bank & Trust Has $1.02 Million Stake in CME Group Inc. $CME

Key Points

• Grove Bank & Trust sold 1,077 shares of CME Group Inc., reducing its stake by 22.6% to 3,686 shares, which were valued at $1,016,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
• Multiple institutional investors have adjusted their positions in CME Group, with hedge funds owning 87.75% of the company’s stock.
• CME Group reported earnings of $2.96 per share for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, while declaring a quarterly dividend of $1.25, providing a yield of 1.9%.

Grove Bank & Trust reduced its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 22.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,686 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 1,077 shares during the period. Grove Bank & Trust's holdings in CME Group were worth $1,016,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in CME. Webster Bank N. A. increased its position in shares of CME Group by 206.9% in the second quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 89 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Wayfinding Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group in the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ransom Advisory Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group in the first quarter valued at about $31,000. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays set a $298.00 price target on CME Group and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on CME Group from $300.00 to $303.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on CME Group from $283.00 to $296.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. UBS Group reduced their price target on CME Group from $305.00 to $285.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut CME Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Sunday, July 13th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $260.60.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CME traded down $0.07 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $261.01. 278,702 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,274,337. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. CME Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $213.94 and a 12 month high of $290.79. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $271.66 and a 200-day moving average price of $270.86. The firm has a market cap of $94.06 billion, a PE ratio of 25.27, a PEG ratio of 4.73 and a beta of 0.43.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $2.91 by $0.05. CME Group had a return on equity of 14.60% and a net margin of 58.48%.The business had revenue of $1.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.68 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.56 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 25th. Shareholders 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 yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 9th. CME Group's payout ratio is currently 48.40%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director William R. Shepard acquired 256 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 25th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $270.53 per share, for a total transaction of $69,255.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 258,196 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,849,763.88. This trade represents a 0.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Sunil Cutinho sold 11,896 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider owned 17,440 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,734,436.80. This represents a 40.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 13,043 shares of company stock valued at $3,527,956 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

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.