Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC Decreases Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 88.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 69,023 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 544,805 shares during the period. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC's holdings in CME Group were worth $16,029,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CME. Waverly Advisors LLC lifted its stake in CME Group by 32.2% in the 4th quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 10,827 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,514,000 after acquiring an additional 2,637 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,026,000. Sone Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter worth $8,049,000. Vident Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in CME Group by 125.7% during the fourth quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 17,072 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,965,000 after purchasing an additional 9,508 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Southpoint Capital Advisors LP acquired a new position in CME Group during the fourth quarter worth $116,115,000. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of CME Group from $265.00 to $273.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $200.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on CME Group from $223.00 to $211.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of CME Group from $279.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on CME Group from $301.00 to $304.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, CME Group currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $256.80.

CME Group Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of CME traded up $2.07 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $284.07. The stock had a trading volume of 2,323,467 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,191,674. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $267.83 and a 200 day simple moving average of $249.16. CME Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $190.70 and a 12 month high of $286.48. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The company has a market capitalization of $102.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.38, a P/E/G ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.45.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.61 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $1.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.56 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 57.52% and a return on equity of 13.62%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.50 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.76%. CME Group's payout ratio is 50.30%.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In other CME Group news, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 3,984 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.47, for a total transaction of $997,872.48. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 27,046 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,774,211.62. This trade represents a 12.84% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.83, for a total value of $385,245.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 8,036 shares in the company, valued at $2,063,885.88. The trade was a 15.73% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 28,384 shares of company stock valued at $7,531,053. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

CME Group Profile

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.