L & S Advisors Inc Has $3.71 Million Stock Holdings in CME Group Inc. $CME

L & S Advisors Inc lowered its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 62.2% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 13,728 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 22,595 shares during the period. L & S Advisors Inc’s holdings in CME Group were worth $3,709,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Caldwell Trust Co grew its position in CME Group by 116.3% during the third quarter. Caldwell Trust Co now owns 93 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA acquired a new position in shares of CME Group in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Financial Consulate Inc. bought a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Sagard Holdings Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Corundum Trust Company INC bought a new position in CME Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of CME stock opened at $302.55 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.03. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $246.68 and a fifty-two week high of $309.35. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $281.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $274.50. The company has a market cap of $109.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.11, a PEG ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.27.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.77 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.75 by $0.02. CME Group had a net margin of 62.45% and a return on equity of 14.65%. The business had revenue of $1.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.64 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.52 EPS. CME Group’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 10th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.80%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Argus reduced their target price on CME Group from $308.00 to $295.00 in a report on Friday, October 31st. Barclays raised their price objective on CME Group from $304.00 to $312.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $310.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of CME Group from $296.00 to $313.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 13th. Finally, Raymond James Financial decreased their price target on shares of CME Group from $311.00 to $310.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $299.53.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other CME Group news, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $269.55, for a total value of $6,738,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 65,804 shares in the company, valued at $17,737,468.20. This trade represents a 27.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Dennis Suskind sold 748 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $224,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 2,699 shares in the company, valued at $809,700. This represents a 21.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.