CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Shares Sold by Verdence Capital Advisors LLC

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC cut its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 47.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,567 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 5,871 shares during the quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in CME Group were worth $1,742,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 3.0% during the first quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,379 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $366,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of CME Group by 50.0% in the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 129 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC increased its position in CME Group by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 5,828 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,546,000 after buying an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC increased its position in CME Group by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 1,342 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $356,000 after buying an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Koshinski Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in CME Group by 1.4% during the first quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,522 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $934,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

CME Group Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of CME stock traded down $3.12 on Friday, hitting $274.70. The stock had a trading volume of 2,197,249 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,181,258. CME Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $193.25 and a 1 year high of $290.79. The company's 50 day moving average price is $276.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $260.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $98.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.31, a P/E/G ratio of 4.86 and a beta of 0.44. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.61 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $1.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.56 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 14.03% and a net margin of 57.71%. CME Group's revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.50 EPS. Analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th were given a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 9th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.82%. CME Group's payout ratio is 50.30%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on CME Group from $223.00 to $211.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $265.00 to $273.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and set a $269.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of CME Group from $283.00 to $299.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of CME Group from $301.00 to $304.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, CME Group presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $261.80.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CME Group news, Director Phyllis M. Lockett sold 1,060 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $277.88, for a total value of $294,552.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 3,108 shares in the company, valued at $863,651.04. The trade was a 25.43% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Daniel G. Kaye sold 500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.42, for a total transaction of $141,210.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 3,668 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,035,916.56. The trade was a 12.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 13,400 shares of company stock valued at $3,680,610. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

About CME Group

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.