Van ECK Associates Corp Sells 12,176 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Van ECK Associates Corp lowered its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 12.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 84,345 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 12,176 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp's holdings in CME Group were worth $17,763,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of CME. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 2.2% in the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 68,234 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $13,662,000 after purchasing an additional 1,476 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in CME Group by 14.5% during the 3rd quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 46,788 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $9,368,000 after acquiring an additional 5,909 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 278.7% in the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 155,533 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $31,141,000 after acquiring an additional 114,463 shares during the last quarter. Dakota Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 16.8% in the third quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 2,540 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $508,000 after acquiring an additional 365 shares during the period. Finally, Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 4.7% during the third quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 2,452 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $491,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 40,000 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.91, for a total transaction of $8,436,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 67,455 shares in the company, valued at $14,226,934.05. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

CME Group Stock Down 0.3 %

CME stock traded down $0.59 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $207.48. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,922,646 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,780,895. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $214.51 and a 200-day simple moving average of $211.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $74.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.67, a PEG ratio of 5.24 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. CME Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $175.73 and a 52-week high of $223.80.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.44 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $1.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.48 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 12.45% and a net margin of 56.84%. CME Group's revenue for the quarter was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.42 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 9.72 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a $1.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.22%. This is a positive change from CME Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.10. CME Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.33%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on CME shares. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $226.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of CME Group from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $195.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of CME Group from $198.00 to $206.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a "hold" rating and set a $210.00 target price (down from $235.00) on shares of CME Group in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on CME Group from $209.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, CME Group currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $217.80.

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.