CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Shares Sold by Headlands Technologies LLC

Headlands Technologies LLC lowered its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 51.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,450 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 10,210 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $2,507,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board lifted its stake in CME Group by 20.8% in the first quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 2,343 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $622,000 after acquiring an additional 403 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its stake in CME Group by 5.3% in the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,413,361 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $374,951,000 after acquiring an additional 71,444 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in CME Group by 1.6% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,081,023 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $552,075,000 after acquiring an additional 33,336 shares during the last quarter. ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. purchased a new position in CME Group in the first quarter worth approximately $5,289,000. Finally, Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI lifted its stake in CME Group by 8.0% in the first quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 2,625 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $696,000 after acquiring an additional 194 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Down 1.1%

CME stock opened at $281.35 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $276.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $264.99. CME Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $200.50 and a 12 month high of $290.79. The company has a market cap of $101.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.05 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.96 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.91 by $0.05. CME Group had a net margin of 58.48% and a return on equity of 14.60%. The firm had revenue of $1.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.68 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.56 EPS. CME Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on CME shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of CME Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Sunday, July 13th. Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of CME Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Barclays set a $298.00 price objective on shares of CME Group and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $305.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective 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. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, CME Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $261.93.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In related news, Director Daniel G. Kaye sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.42, for a total value of $141,210.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 3,668 shares in the company, valued at $1,035,916.56. This represents a 12.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus sold 390 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $277.50, for a total transaction of $108,225.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 6,708 shares in the company, valued at $1,861,470. This represents a 5.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 5,750 shares of company stock worth $1,576,294 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.