Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC Trims Stock Holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 73.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,401 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 47,109 shares during the quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC's holdings in CME Group were worth $4,041,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CME. Anchor Investment Management LLC grew its stake in CME Group by 52.4% during the 3rd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 378 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $83,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 70.4% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,427,107 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $544,157,000 after acquiring an additional 1,003,119 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in CME Group by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 419,532 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $92,570,000 after purchasing an additional 17,508 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in CME Group by 36.2% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,626 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,307,000 after purchasing an additional 1,495 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in CME Group by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 30,170 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $7,000,000 after purchasing an additional 1,557 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on CME shares. Barclays raised their price target on CME Group from $279.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and set a $269.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of CME Group from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price 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. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on CME Group from $265.00 to $273.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $256.80.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Derek Sammann sold 4,650 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.61, for a total transaction of $1,304,836.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 8,336 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,339,164.96. This represents a 35.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 3,984 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.47, for a total value of $997,872.48. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 27,046 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,774,211.62. This trade represents a 12.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 34,726 shares of company stock valued at $8,975,813 in the last 90 days. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of CME traded up $1.39 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $283.38. 326,233 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,150,831. 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 $190.70 and a 52-week high of $286.48. The company has a market cap of $102.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.31, a PEG ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $263.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $245.14.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last posted 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. CME Group had a net margin of 57.52% and a return on equity of 13.62%. The business had revenue of $1.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.56 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.50 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

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

CME Group Company 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.