Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB Sells 2,751 Shares of CME Group Inc. $CME

Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB cut its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 49,706 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,751 shares during the quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB’s holdings in CME Group were worth $13,430,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. First Affirmative Financial Network boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 13.6% during the 3rd quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network now owns 2,256 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $610,000 after acquiring an additional 270 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 5.9% during the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 552,929 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $149,396,000 after purchasing an additional 30,983 shares during the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in CME Group by 14.0% during the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,330 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,980,000 after purchasing an additional 901 shares during the period. Danica Pension Livsforsikringsaktieselskab bought a new position in CME Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $8,189,000. Finally, Danske Bank A S purchased a new stake in CME Group in the third quarter worth approximately $53,127,000. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CME has been the subject of a number of research reports. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of CME Group from $302.00 to $356.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Weiss Ratings upgraded CME Group from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised their target price on CME Group from $333.00 to $347.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Argus reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of CME Group in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Raymond James Financial lowered their price objective on shares of CME Group from $311.00 to $310.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $304.06.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Dennis Suskind sold 748 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director directly owned 2,699 shares in the company, valued at $809,700. This trade represents a 21.70% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director William R. Shepard bought 251 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 30th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $278.37 per share, for a total transaction of $69,870.87. Following the purchase, the director owned 258,710 shares in the company, valued at $72,017,102.70. This represents a 0.10% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 5,248 shares of company stock valued at $1,616,700. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

CME Group Stock Down 0.2%

NASDAQ CME opened at $313.33 on Wednesday. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $248.53 and a 52 week high of $329.16. 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 company has a market capitalization of $112.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.24. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $297.46 and its 200-day moving average price is $279.72.

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

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be given a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 10th. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.59%.

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.