Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC Decreases Stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Key Points

• Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC reduced its stake in CME Group Inc. by 10.7%, selling 2,235 shares and leaving them with 18,675 shares valued at about $4.95 million.
• CME Group reported earnings of $2.96 per share for the last quarter, surpassing estimates and showing a 10.4% year-over-year revenue growth to $1.69 billion.
• The firm announced a quarterly dividend of $1.25 per share, reflecting a 1.8% yield and a payout ratio of 48.4%.

Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC lessened its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 10.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,675 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 2,235 shares during the period. Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC's holdings in CME Group were worth $4,954,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wayfinding Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 122.2% during the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 100 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 612.5% during the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Alpine Bank Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $32,000. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In related news, Director Charles P. Carey sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $265.35, for a total transaction of $132,675.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 4,900 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,300,215. This trade represents a 9.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus sold 390 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $277.50, for a total value of $108,225.00. Following the sale, the general counsel directly owned 6,708 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,861,470. The trade was a 5.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 2,450 shares of company stock valued at $676,663 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on CME shares. 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. Wall Street Zen lowered CME Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Sunday, July 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on CME Group from $265.00 to $273.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on CME Group from $301.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased 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. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, CME Group has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $261.93.

CME Group Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of CME Group stock traded up $0.10 on Friday, hitting $274.80. The company had a trading volume of 718,827 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,337,014. The stock has a market capitalization of $99.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.61, a P/E/G ratio of 4.86 and a beta of 0.44. CME Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $204.16 and a 1 year high of $290.79. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $275.53 and a 200-day moving average of $266.86. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.96 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.91 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.68 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 14.60% and a net margin of 58.48%. CME Group's revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.56 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side 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 will be paid on Thursday, September 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 9th will be given a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 9th. CME Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.40%.

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.