CME Group Inc. $CME Shares Sold by Perpetual Ltd

Key Points

• Perpetual Ltd reduced its holdings in CME Group Inc. by 25.0%, selling 69,248 shares and now owning approximately 0.06% of the company, valued at $57.38 million.
• Insider sales at CME Group included Sunil Cutinho selling 11,896 shares for over $3.2 million, representing a 40.55% reduction in his ownership.
• Equity analysts varied in their outlook, with price targets for CME Group ranging from $260.60 to $298.00, indicating a consensus rating of “Hold”.

Perpetual Ltd lowered its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 25.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 208,186 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 69,248 shares during the quarter. Perpetual Ltd owned 0.06% of CME Group worth $57,380,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CME. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG raised its position in CME Group by 29.0% in the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 86,941 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $20,190,000 after purchasing an additional 19,533 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP purchased a new stake in CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at $5,026,000. Waverly Advisors LLC raised its position in CME Group by 32.2% in the fourth quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 10,827 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,514,000 after purchasing an additional 2,637 shares during the period. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 61.0% in the 4th quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 1,671 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $388,000 after buying an additional 633 shares during the period. Finally, BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 14.8% in the 4th quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 68,955 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $16,013,000 after buying an additional 8,876 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on CME. UBS Group cut their price objective on CME Group from $305.00 to $285.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 8th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on CME Group from $283.00 to $296.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on CME Group from $300.00 to $303.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on CME Group from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Finally, Erste Group Bank downgraded CME Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Four 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, CME Group has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $260.60.

CME Group Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:CME traded up $0.94 on Friday, hitting $261.53. 3,139,055 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,825,972. The firm's 50-day moving average is $271.98 and its 200 day moving average is $270.70. The company has a market capitalization of $94.25 billion, a PE ratio of 25.32, a P/E/G ratio of 4.73 and a beta of 0.43. CME Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $212.38 and a 1-year 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.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.91 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.68 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 14.60% and a net margin of 58.48%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.56 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Timothy Francis Mccourt sold 379 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $259.83, for a total value of $98,475.57. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 9,508 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,470,463.64. This represents a 3.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director William R. Shepard bought 256 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 25th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $270.53 per share, with a total value of $69,255.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the director 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 disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 13,043 shares of company stock valued at $3,527,956. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.