CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Stock Holdings Cut by Vontobel Holding Ltd.

Vontobel Holding Ltd. cut its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 0.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,836,041 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 20,214 shares during the period. CME Group accounts for about 2.7% of Vontobel Holding Ltd.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. Vontobel Holding Ltd. owned approximately 0.79% of CME Group worth $752,373,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG raised its holdings in CME Group by 29.0% during the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 86,941 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $20,190,000 after buying an additional 19,533 shares in the last quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co. raised its holdings in CME Group by 8.5% in the 4th quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co. now owns 9,435 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,191,000 after acquiring an additional 737 shares during the period. SVB Wealth LLC acquired a new position in CME Group during the 4th quarter worth $1,024,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in CME Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $243,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of CME Group by 21.3% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 3,904 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $904,000 after purchasing an additional 685 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Larry G. Gerdes sold 2,000 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.10, for a total transaction of $528,200.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 38,651 shares in the company, valued at $10,207,729.10. This trade represents a 4.92% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Derek Sammann sold 4,650 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.61, for a total value of $1,304,836.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 8,336 shares in the company, valued at $2,339,164.96. This trade represents a 35.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 13,400 shares of company stock valued at $3,680,610 in the last ninety days. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on CME. UBS Group boosted their price objective on CME Group from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Raymond James Financial upgraded CME Group from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $287.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, March 10th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on CME Group from $301.00 to $304.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of CME Group from $275.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of CME Group from $265.00 to $273.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, CME Group has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $258.20.

CME Group Trading Up 0.1%

CME Group stock traded up $0.40 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $275.82. 2,074,746 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,198,422. The firm has a market capitalization of $99.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.75, a PEG ratio of 3.74 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $275.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $257.22. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $193.17 and a fifty-two week high of $290.79.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.61 by $0.19. The firm 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%. The business's revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.50 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th were issued a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 9th. CME Group's payout ratio is 50.30%.

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.