Marathon Asset Management Ltd Has $31.40 Million Position in CME Group Inc. $CME

Marathon Asset Management Ltd lessened its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 27.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 116,204 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 43,143 shares during the period. Marathon Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in CME Group were worth $31,396,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of CME. Jessup Wealth Management Inc increased its position in shares of CME Group by 0.5% in the second quarter. Jessup Wealth Management Inc now owns 7,969 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,197,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its stake in CME Group by 0.7% during the second quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 5,269 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,453,000 after buying an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC grew its stake in CME Group by 2.3% during the first quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 1,661 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $441,000 after buying an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC increased its holdings in CME Group by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 1,422 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $392,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the period. Finally, Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of CME Group by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,952 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $538,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on shares of CME Group from $282.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Citigroup upgraded CME Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $275.00 to $300.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on CME Group from $264.00 to $263.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on CME Group from $285.00 to $280.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on CME Group from $252.00 to $256.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, CME Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $290.82.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 25,000 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $269.55, for a total transaction of $6,738,750.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 65,804 shares in the company, valued at $17,737,468.20. This trade represents a 27.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Harold Eugene Jr. Ford sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $263.53, for a total transaction of $263,530.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 1,091 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $287,511.23. This trade represents a 47.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

CME Group Trading Up 0.1%

NASDAQ CME opened at $276.73 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $99.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.28. CME Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $224.62 and a twelve month high of $290.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The business’s fifty day moving average is $273.14 and its 200 day moving average is $271.90.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 the consensus estimate of $1.56 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.68 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

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

CME Group Company Profile

CME Group Inc is a global markets company that operates some of the world’s largest and most liquid derivatives exchanges, including the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) and COMEX. The firm offers futures and options contracts across a broad range of asset classes — including interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, energy, agricultural commodities and metals — and serves a diverse client base of institutional investors, commercial hedgers, brokers and retail participants.

The company’s core services include electronic trading on the CME Globex platform, central clearing through CME Clearing, and distribution of market data, indexes and analytics.