Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd Sells 184,900 Shares of CME Group Inc. $CME

Key Points

• Swiss Life Asset Management cut its CME Group stake by 25.6% in the fourth quarter, selling 184,900 shares and leaving it with 537,783 shares worth about $146.9 million.
• CME reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $3.36 beating estimates and revenue of $1.88 billion topping forecasts, while revenue rose 14.5% year over year.
• The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $1.30 per share, payable June 25, which annualizes to $5.20 per share for a 1.8% yield.

Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd reduced its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 25.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 537,783 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 184,900 shares during the quarter. CME Group accounts for approximately 0.7% of Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd's holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd owned about 0.15% of CME Group worth $146,858,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in CME. Truist Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 8.9% during the 3rd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 70,712 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $19,106,000 after buying an additional 5,773 shares in the last quarter. Alley Investment Management Company LLC lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 86.0% during the 3rd quarter. Alley Investment Management Company LLC now owns 29,223 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $7,896,000 after buying an additional 13,512 shares in the last quarter. Elevate Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 85.2% during the 3rd quarter. Elevate Capital Advisors LLC now owns 8,519 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,302,000 after buying an additional 3,919 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 345.2% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 237,898 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $64,965,000 after buying an additional 184,459 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 78.8% during the 3rd quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 13,281 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,588,000 after buying an additional 5,855 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In related news, General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus sold 3,291 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $333.37, for a total transaction of $1,097,120.67. Following the sale, the general counsel owned 7,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,397,597.04. This represents a 31.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.90, for a total value of $91,770.00. Following the sale, the director owned 24,999 shares in the company, valued at $7,647,194.10. The trade was a 1.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 7,791 shares of company stock worth $2,489,421. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CME has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on CME Group from $356.00 to $349.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Wall Street Zen cut CME Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Sunday, April 26th. TD Cowen lowered their price target on CME Group from $340.00 to $323.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on CME Group from $266.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on CME Group from $295.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $305.29.

CME Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CME opened at $281.25 on Monday. The stock's fifty day moving average is $301.50 and its 200 day moving average is $287.27. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $257.17 and a fifty-two week high of $329.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $101.91 billion, a PE ratio of 24.00, a PEG ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 0.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, 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 results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.11 by $0.25. CME Group had a return on equity of 15.42% and a net margin of 63.19%.The company had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.77 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.80 EPS. CME Group's quarterly revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 12.26 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 9th will be issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 9th. CME Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 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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