CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Shares Sold by Victory Capital Management Inc.

Victory Capital Management Inc. reduced its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 5.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 223,948 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 13,005 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned approximately 0.06% of CME Group worth $59,411,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wayfinding Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 122.2% in the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 100 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC increased its holdings 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. Golden State Wealth Management LLC increased 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 worth $30,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alpine Bank Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 1st quarter worth about $32,000. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CME has been the topic of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of CME Group from $223.00 to $211.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $265.00 to $273.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $283.00 to $299.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $283.00 to $296.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $261.80.

CME Group Stock Performance

CME Group stock traded down $3.12 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $274.70. 2,197,249 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,183,774. 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 Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $193.25 and a fifty-two week high of $290.79. The company has a market capitalization of $98.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.81 and a beta of 0.44. The firm's fifty day moving average is $275.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is $260.85.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $2.61 by $0.19. CME Group had a net margin of 57.71% and a return on equity of 14.03%. The business had revenue of $1.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.56 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.50 EPS. CME Group's revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other news, Director William R. Shepard purchased 256 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 25th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $270.53 per share, with a total value of $69,255.68. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 258,196 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $69,849,763.88. This represents a 0.10% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Daniel G. Kaye sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.42, for a total transaction of $141,210.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 3,668 shares in the company, valued at $1,035,916.56. This trade represents a 12.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 13,400 shares of company stock valued at $3,680,610. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.