Rakuten Investment Management Inc. Sells 169,863 Shares of CME Group Inc. $CME

Key Points

• Rakuten Investment Management sharply reduced its CME Group stake in the fourth quarter, selling 169,863 shares and cutting its position by 78.2% to 47,427 shares worth about $13.2 million.
• CME Group reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $3.36 versus $3.11 expected and revenue of $1.88 billion, up 14.5% year over year.
• The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $1.30 per share, while analysts maintain a generally positive view with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $305.71.

Rakuten Investment Management Inc. lessened its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 78.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 47,427 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 169,863 shares during the period. Rakuten Investment Management Inc.'s holdings in CME Group were worth $13,205,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of CME. L2 Asset Management LLC raised its stake in CME Group by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. L2 Asset Management LLC now owns 1,860 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $508,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Brooklands Fund Management Ltd raised its stake in CME Group by 56.4% in the 4th quarter. Brooklands Fund Management Ltd now owns 860 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $248,000 after purchasing an additional 310 shares in the last quarter. 71 West Capital Partners acquired a new stake in CME Group in the 4th quarter worth about $263,000. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in CME Group by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,146,539 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $313,097,000 after purchasing an additional 35,357 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Truvestments Capital LLC raised its stake in CME Group by 124.8% in the 4th quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 317 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $87,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on CME. UBS Group reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of CME Group in a research report on Monday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of CME Group from $342.00 to $322.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of CME Group from a "buy (a-)" rating to a "buy (b+)" rating in a report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of CME Group from $362.00 to $353.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of CME Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $305.71.

CME Group Stock Down 1.3%

Shares of NASDAQ CME opened at $266.08 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $96.42 billion, a PE ratio of 22.70, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.21. CME Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $244.56 and a 12-month high of $329.16. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $284.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $288.08. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.11 by $0.25. CME Group had a net margin of 63.19% and a return on equity of 15.42%. The firm had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.77 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.80 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 12.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 9th will be issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 9th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. CME Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 44.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

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

CME Group Company Profile

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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