QRG Capital Management Inc. Sells 6,463 Shares of CME Group Inc. $CME

Key Points

• QRG Capital Management trimmed its CME Group stake by 8.5% in the first quarter, selling 6,463 shares and leaving it with 69,224 shares valued at about $20.4 million.
• Insider selling was also notable: CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 35,000 shares, and insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 5,753 shares, reducing their positions significantly.
• CME Group reported solid quarterly results, beating EPS and revenue estimates, while maintaining a quarterly dividend of $1.30 per share for a 2.2% yield.

QRG Capital Management Inc. reduced its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 8.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 69,224 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 6,463 shares during the quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in CME Group were worth $20,445,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. HB Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in CME Group by 8.5% during the first quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,579 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,125,000 after buying an additional 826 shares during the last quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 19.7% during the 1st quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC now owns 77,465 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $22,879,000 after purchasing an additional 12,758 shares in the last quarter. Leelyn Smith LLC increased its holdings in CME Group by 1.8% in the first quarter. Leelyn Smith LLC now owns 11,278 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,331,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. Baer Investment Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of CME Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,261,000. Finally, Argos Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of CME Group by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Argos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,387 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $410,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CME Group news, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 35,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $298.51, for a total transaction of $10,447,850.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 55,630 shares of the company's stock, valued at $16,606,111.30. This represents a 38.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 5,753 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.63, for a total transaction of $1,752,536.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 27,702 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,438,860.26. The trade was a 17.20% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on CME. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of CME Group from $343.00 to $316.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Weiss Ratings cut CME Group from a "buy (b+)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of CME Group from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $305.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Piper Sandler set a $320.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn upgraded CME Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $316.00 to $323.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $300.94.

CME Group Stock Performance

CME stock opened at $236.60 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $267.17 and a 200-day moving average of $284.28. The firm has a market cap of $85.73 billion, a PE ratio of 20.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.25. CME Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $218.31 and a 12-month high of $329.16. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.11 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $1.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.77 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 15.42% and a net margin of 63.19%.The business's revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.80 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 12.28 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 9th were issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 9th. CME Group's dividend payout ratio is 44.37%.

About CME Group

CME Group Inc is a global markets company that operates some of the world's largest and most liquid derivatives exchanges, including the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) and COMEX. The firm offers futures and options contracts across a broad range of asset classes — including interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, energy, agricultural commodities and metals — and serves a diverse client base of institutional investors, commercial hedgers, brokers and retail participants.

The company's core services include electronic trading on the CME Globex platform, central clearing through CME Clearing, and distribution of market data, indexes and analytics.

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