KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Sells 30,880 Shares of CME Group Inc. $CME

Key Points

• KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS reduced its stake in CME Group by 16.7%, selling 30,880 shares and leaving it with 154,307 shares valued at approximately $42.14 million.
• CME beat quarterly expectations with EPS of $3.36 (vs. $3.11 est.) and revenue of $1.88 billion (vs. $1.77 billion est.), and raised its quarterly dividend to $1.30 ($5.20 annualized, ~1.8% yield).
• Wall Street's consensus rating is a Moderate Buy with a $309.94 target price, and institutional investors own about 87.75% of the company's shares.

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS lessened its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 16.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 154,307 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 30,880 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS's holdings in CME Group were worth $42,138,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Caldwell Trust Co raised its stake in CME Group by 116.3% in the third quarter. Caldwell Trust Co now owns 93 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Asset Dedication LLC raised its stake in CME Group by 64.9% in the fourth quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 94 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the period. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA bought a new stake in CME Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC bought a new stake in CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Financial Consulate Inc. bought a new stake in CME Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CME has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on CME Group from $340.00 to $362.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on CME Group from $266.00 to $271.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Rothschild & Co Redburn dropped their price objective on CME Group from $347.00 to $340.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 13th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on CME Group from $328.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded CME Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, CME Group presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $309.94.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other news, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 4,200 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.65, for a total value of $1,300,530.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 43,007 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,317,117.55. This represents a 8.90% 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 Dennis Suskind sold 748 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $224,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 2,699 shares in the company, valued at $809,700. The trade was a 21.70% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 8,539 shares of company stock worth $2,713,821 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

CME Group Price Performance

CME Group stock opened at $284.40 on Wednesday. CME Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $251.90 and a 12 month high of $329.16. The stock's 50 day moving average is $305.53 and its 200-day moving average is $285.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The company has a market capitalization of $101.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.48, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.26.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.36 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.11 by $0.25. CME Group had a return on equity of 14.65% and a net margin of 62.45%.The company had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.77 billion. Equities research analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 12.33 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th were given a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 10th. This is a positive change from CME Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. CME Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.59%.

CME Group Profile

CME Group Inc is a global markets company that operates some of the world's largest and most liquid derivatives exchanges, including the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) and COMEX. The firm offers futures and options contracts across a broad range of asset classes — including interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, energy, agricultural commodities and metals — and serves a diverse client base of institutional investors, commercial hedgers, brokers and retail participants.

The company's core services include electronic trading on the CME Globex platform, central clearing through CME Clearing, and distribution of market data, indexes and analytics.

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