Generali Investments Management Co LLC Sells 3,304 Shares of CME Group Inc. $CME

Generali Investments Management Co LLC cut its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 45.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,938 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,304 shares during the quarter. Generali Investments Management Co LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $1,084,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in CME. Diversify Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 57.6% during the first quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 6,504 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,772,000 after buying an additional 2,378 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC grew its position in shares of CME Group by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 7,251 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,924,000 after buying an additional 251 shares during the last quarter. Formidable Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 12.8% during the 1st quarter. Formidable Asset Management LLC now owns 2,916 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $773,000 after acquiring an additional 331 shares in the last quarter. Buckhead Capital Management LLC lifted its position in CME Group by 1.9% during the first quarter. Buckhead Capital Management LLC now owns 9,154 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,428,000 after acquiring an additional 169 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AMG National Trust Bank acquired a new stake in CME Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $256,000. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus sold 392 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.00, for a total value of $102,704.00. Following the sale, the general counsel owned 7,851 shares in the company, valued at $2,056,962. This represents a 4.76% 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, insider Timothy Francis Mccourt sold 379 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $259.83, for a total transaction of $98,475.57. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 9,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,470,463.64. This trade represents a 3.83% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 14,043 shares of company stock worth $3,791,486. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME opened at $285.04 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $267.33 and a two-hundred day moving average of $272.85. The stock has a market cap of $102.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.62, a P/E/G ratio of 4.41 and a beta of 0.38. CME Group Inc. has a one year low of $222.56 and a one year high of $290.79.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.63 by $0.05. CME Group had a return on equity of 14.61% and a net margin of 58.84%.The firm had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.56 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.68 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be paid a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. CME Group’s payout ratio is presently 48.45%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of CME Group in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Citigroup upgraded CME Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $275.00 to $300.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. Rothschild & Co Redburn increased their price target on CME Group from $297.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Raymond James Financial lowered their price target on CME Group from $309.00 to $307.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 13th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of CME Group from $300.00 to $303.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, CME Group has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $287.65.

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.