Silphium Asset Management Ltd Trims Stock Position in CME Group Inc. $CME

Silphium Asset Management Ltd trimmed its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 40.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,556 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 7,300 shares during the quarter. Silphium Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in CME Group were worth $2,852,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of CME. Amundi increased its stake in CME Group by 24.0% in the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 1,987,347 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $548,150,000 after buying an additional 385,225 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp lifted its stake in shares of CME Group by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 70,712 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $19,106,000 after acquiring an additional 5,773 shares during the period. Alley Investment Management Company LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 86.0% in the third quarter. Alley Investment Management Company LLC now owns 29,223 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,896,000 after acquiring an additional 13,512 shares in the last quarter. Elevate Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 85.2% during the third quarter. Elevate Capital Advisors LLC now owns 8,519 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,302,000 after acquiring an additional 3,919 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Financial Group LLC increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 310.2% during the second quarter. Victory Financial Group LLC now owns 3,044 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $839,000 after acquiring an additional 2,302 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CME has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on CME Group from $282.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, December 5th. TD Cowen upgraded CME Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on CME Group from $304.00 to $302.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 12th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on CME Group from $320.00 to $319.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $280.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $292.18.

CME Group Trading Up 0.6%

NASDAQ:CME opened at $290.77 on Tuesday. CME Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $238.12 and a 52-week high of $293.78. 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 stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $275.56 and a 200-day simple moving average of $272.39. The company has a market capitalization of $104.85 billion, a PE ratio of 28.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.27.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 12th were given a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 12th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.45%.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In other CME Group news, Director William R. Shepard acquired 251 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 30th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $278.37 per share, with a total value of $69,870.87. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 258,710 shares in the company, valued at approximately $72,017,102.70. This trade represents a 0.10% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $269.55, for a total value of $6,738,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 65,804 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,737,468.20. The trade was a 27.53% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

CME Group 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.