CME Group Inc. $CME Shares Sold by Intech Investment Management LLC

Intech Investment Management LLC decreased its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 4.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 71,328 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,327 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $19,478,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. West Family Investments Inc. increased its stake in CME Group by 1.2% during the third quarter. West Family Investments Inc. now owns 3,062 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $827,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. Asset Dedication LLC boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 64.9% in the fourth quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 94 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC now owns 11,523 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,147,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 4.3% in the third quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 898 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $243,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atlatl Advisers LLC grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 1.8% in the third quarter. Atlatl Advisers LLC now owns 2,126 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $574,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other CME Group news, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 5,753 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.63, for a total value of $1,752,536.39. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 27,702 shares in the company, valued at $8,438,860.26. This represents a 17.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 35,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.51, for a total transaction of $10,447,850.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 55,630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,606,111.30. The trade was a 38.62% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 44,044 shares of company stock valued at $13,297,507. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of CME opened at $277.42 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $100.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.67, a PEG ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.23. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $293.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $289.62. CME Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $257.17 and a twelve month high of $329.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.36 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.11 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.77 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 15.42% and a net margin of 63.19%.CME Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.80 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 12.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 9th will be issued a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 9th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.37%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on CME shares. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of CME Group from $362.00 to $353.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Wall Street Zen lowered CME Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Sunday, April 26th. Argus reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of CME Group in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods began coverage on CME Group in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $305.00 target price for the company. Finally, Raymond James Financial boosted their target price on CME Group from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $305.29.

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.