Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. Reduces Holdings in CME Group Inc. $CME

Key Points

• Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. drastically reduced its holdings in CME Group Inc. by 78.5% during the first quarter, now owning only 8,834 shares valued at approximately $2.34 million.
• Other institutional investors, including Vanguard Group Inc. and Raymond James Financial Inc., have increased their stakes in CME Group, indicating ongoing institutional interest in the firm.
• CME Group announced a quarterly dividend of $1.25, with a projected annual yield of 1.9%, demonstrating its commitment to returning capital to shareholders.

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 78.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,834 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 32,302 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc.'s holdings in CME Group were worth $2,344,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in CME Group by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,643,827 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $9,190,661,000 after acquiring an additional 400,737 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its stake in CME Group by 9.7% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 4,113,991 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,091,401,000 after purchasing an additional 363,130 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in CME Group by 29.9% during the 1st quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,818,590 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $747,744,000 after purchasing an additional 648,591 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in CME Group by 10.3% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,783,759 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $735,539,000 after purchasing an additional 260,065 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in CME Group by 370.5% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,653,957 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $704,068,000 after purchasing an additional 2,089,935 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other CME Group news, insider Sunil Cutinho sold 11,896 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the insider directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director William R. Shepard acquired 256 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 25th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $270.53 per share, with a total value of $69,255.68. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 258,196 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,849,763.88. This represents a 0.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CME has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of CME Group from $305.00 to $285.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of CME Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Barclays set a $298.00 price target on shares of CME Group and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Citigroup boosted 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 boosted 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 assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $260.60.

CME Group Price Performance

CME stock opened at $259.91 on Thursday. The company's fifty day moving average price is $274.10 and its 200-day moving average price is $270.11. CME Group Inc. has a one year low of $212.38 and a one year high of $290.79. The company has a market capitalization of $93.67 billion, a PE ratio of 25.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.73 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.91 by $0.05. CME Group had a net margin of 58.48% and a return on equity of 14.60%. The company had revenue of $1.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.68 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.56 earnings per share. CME Group's quarterly revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 9th will be paid a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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%.

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.

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