Meadow Creek Wealth Advisors LLC Decreases Holdings in CME Group Inc. $CME

Key Points

• Meadow Creek Wealth Advisors LLC reduced its stake in CME Group Inc. by 41.2% during the second quarter, holding 1,776 shares valued at approximately $490,000.
• The quarterly earnings report revealed that CME Group exceeded analysts' expectations, reporting $2.68 per share which was above the forecast of $2.63, but its revenue was down 3.0% year-over-year.
• CME Group announced a quarterly dividend of $1.25 per share, which translates to an annualized yield of 1.9% and a payout ratio of 48.40%.

Meadow Creek Wealth Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 41.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,776 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 1,242 shares during the period. Meadow Creek Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in CME Group were worth $490,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of CME. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,643,827 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $9,190,661,000 after acquiring an additional 400,737 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. lifted its stake in CME Group by 9.7% in the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 4,113,991 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,091,401,000 after purchasing an additional 363,130 shares during the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 3.0% during the second quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 2,920,046 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $804,823,000 after buying an additional 84,005 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in shares of CME Group by 29.9% during the first 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 buying an additional 648,591 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 10.3% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,783,759 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $735,539,000 after buying an additional 260,065 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CME Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ CME opened at $268.61 on Wednesday. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $213.94 and a fifty-two week high of $290.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $96.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.00, a PEG ratio of 6.16 and a beta of 0.41. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $266.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $271.48.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.63 by $0.05. CME Group had a return on equity of 14.60% and a net margin of 58.48%.The company had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.56 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.68 earnings per share. CME Group's revenue for the quarter was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 9th were given a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was 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 currently 48.40%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on CME shares. Wall Street Zen cut shares of CME Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Sunday, July 13th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on CME Group from $313.00 to $304.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Piper Sandler increased their price target 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $283.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $303.00 to $312.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $283.71.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CME Group news, Director William R. Shepard bought 262 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 25th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $265.19 per share, for a total transaction of $69,479.78. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 258,459 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $68,540,742.21. This represents a 0.10% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus sold 392 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.00, for a total transaction of $102,704.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel owned 7,851 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,056,962. This represents a 4.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 13,043 shares of company stock valued at $3,527,956. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

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.

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