Capital World Investors Sells 345,412 Shares of CME Group Inc. $CME

Capital World Investors lessened its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 4.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,271,156 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 345,412 shares during the period. Capital World Investors’ holdings in CME Group were worth $2,234,827,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Capital International Inc. CA raised its stake in CME Group by 13.8% during the third quarter. Capital International Inc. CA now owns 110,202 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,775,000 after acquiring an additional 13,379 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can increased its position in CME Group by 6.8% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 742,847 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $200,710,000 after purchasing an additional 47,231 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in CME Group by 5.4% in the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,437,071 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $658,474,000 after buying an additional 124,820 shares in the last quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise grew its stake in shares of CME Group by 13.3% during the third quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 6,719 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,815,000 after buying an additional 788 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sandhill Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of CME Group during the third quarter worth $5,970,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CME has been the topic of a number of research reports. Argus restated a “hold” rating on shares of CME Group in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on CME Group from $295.00 to $302.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on CME Group from $264.00 to $266.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of CME Group from $312.00 to $316.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $310.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $302.71.

CME Group Price Performance

CME stock opened at $319.09 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm has a market cap of $115.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.59, a PEG ratio of 3.69 and a beta of 0.24. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $292.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $278.00. CME Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $248.53 and a 12-month high of $329.16.

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

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $1.30 per share. 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. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. CME Group’s payout ratio is 44.80%.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In related news, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 4,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.65, for a total transaction of $1,300,530.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 43,007 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,317,117.55. This represents a 8.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 25,000 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 65,804 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,737,468.20. This trade represents a 27.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 30,248 shares of company stock worth $8,355,450 over the last ninety days. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About CME Group

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.