Primecap Management Co. CA Lowers Stock Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Key Points

• Primecap Management Co. CA has reduced its stake in CME Group Inc. by 1.8%, owning approximately 1,831,920 shares valued at $485.99 million after selling 33,000 shares in the last quarter.
• During the same period, several other institutional investors increased their holdings in CME Group, with Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG raising its stake by 29% and FIL Ltd increasing by 1.5%.
• CME Group reported quarterly earnings of $2.96 per share, exceeding analysts' expectations of $2.91, and also announced a quarterly dividend of $1.25 per share, reflecting an annualized yield of 1.8%.

Primecap Management Co. CA trimmed its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 1.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,831,920 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 33,000 shares during the period. Primecap Management Co. CA owned about 0.51% of CME Group worth $485,990,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Heartland Bank & Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group in the first quarter valued at $377,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 256.9% during the first quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,662 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $971,000 after buying an additional 2,636 shares during the period. OMNI 360 Wealth Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group during the first quarter worth approximately $367,000. Fulcrum Equity Management purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group during the first quarter worth approximately $258,000. Finally, Aspire Growth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $548,000. 87.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other CME Group news, Director Daniel G. Kaye sold 500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.42, for a total transaction of $141,210.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 3,668 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,035,916.56. This represents a 12.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus sold 390 shares of CME Group 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 completion of the sale, the general counsel directly owned 6,708 shares in the company, valued at $1,861,470. This represents a 5.49% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 5,750 shares of company stock worth $1,576,294 over the last quarter. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of CME Group from $300.00 to $303.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. 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 target price on shares of CME Group and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on CME Group from $301.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their target price on CME Group from $283.00 to $296.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $261.93.

CME Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CME traded up $1.26 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $282.21. 1,488,447 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,050,219. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $275.84 and a 200-day simple moving average of $265.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $101.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.32, a P/E/G ratio of 4.99 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. CME Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $203.77 and a 1 year high of $290.79.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.96 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.91 by $0.05. The firm 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%. The firm's revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.56 EPS. Analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 9th will be paid a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. CME Group's dividend payout ratio 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.