CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Shares Sold by Voya Investment Management LLC

Voya Investment Management LLC decreased its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 3.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 200,635 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 6,754 shares during the period. Voya Investment Management LLC owned 0.06% of CME Group worth $46,593,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 570.6% in the fourth quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 50.0% in the fourth quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 129 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Financial Life Planners bought a new stake in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Knuff & Co LLC bought a new stake in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 120.3% in the fourth quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 152 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other CME Group news, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.83, for a total transaction of $385,245.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 8,036 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,063,885.88. This trade represents a 15.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Dennis Suskind sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.28, for a total value of $271,280.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 2,915 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $790,781.20. This trade represents a 25.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 30,076 shares of company stock valued at $7,670,976 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

CME Group Stock Performance

CME Group stock traded up $0.09 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $277.17. 1,020,208 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,156,420. The firm has a market capitalization of $99.88 billion, a PE ratio of 28.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.43. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $190.70 and a fifty-two week high of $278.16. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $260.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $242.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.01.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 13.62% and a net margin of 57.52%. CME Group's revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.50 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a $1.25 dividend. This is a positive change from CME Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.80%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. CME Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.30%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on CME. Erste Group Bank raised shares of CME Group to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of CME Group from $269.00 to $279.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Bank of America raised their target price 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. Barclays raised their target price on shares of CME Group from $279.00 to $283.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of CME Group from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given 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.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $256.80.

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.