Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $111.44 Million Holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 0.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 420,079 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 2,189 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.12% of CME Group worth $111,443,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in CME Group by 50.0% in the fourth quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 129 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Golden State Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 612.5% in the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the period. Alpine Bank Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of CME Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $32,000. Knuff & Co LLC bought a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Banque Transatlantique SA acquired a new stake in CME Group during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CME has been the subject of several recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on CME Group from $265.00 to $273.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Citigroup upped their price objective on CME Group from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday. Erste Group Bank lowered CME Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of CME Group from $200.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $301.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, CME Group currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $259.87.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other CME Group news, Director Charles P. Carey sold 500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were 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 represents a 9.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director William R. Shepard acquired 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 purchase, the director directly owned 258,196 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,849,763.88. This trade represents a 0.10% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold 13,400 shares of company stock worth $3,680,610 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CME traded down $1.00 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $274.83. 1,234,017 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,194,406. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $193.17 and a fifty-two week high of $290.79. The firm has a market cap of $99.04 billion, a PE ratio of 27.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 0.44. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $276.40 and a 200-day simple moving average of $257.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.61 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $1.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.56 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 14.03% and a net margin of 57.71%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.50 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th were given a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 9th. CME Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.30%.

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.