World Equity Group Inc. Sells 2,350 Shares of CME Group Inc. $CME

World Equity Group Inc. lowered its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 47.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 2,624 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,350 shares during the quarter. World Equity Group Inc.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $579,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Sax Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 24.0% in the second quarter. Sax Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,043 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $672,000 after buying an additional 588 shares during the period. Rockland Trust Co. grew its position in CME Group by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 1,998 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $441,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Trust Point Inc. increased its position in shares of CME Group by 38.3% during the second quarter. Trust Point Inc. now owns 1,561 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $345,000 after acquiring an additional 432 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 165.4% during the second quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 207 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank increased its position in CME Group by 5.0% during the second quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 103,140 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $22,776,000 after acquiring an additional 4,933 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

CME Group Stock Down 0.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:CME opened at $263.65 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $94.80 billion, a PE ratio of 22.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.23. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $249.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $280.67. CME Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $218.31 and a 1 year high of $329.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.99 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.91 by $0.08. CME Group had a return on equity of 15.60% and a net margin of 63.30%.The firm had revenue of $1.71 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.68 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.96 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 12.27 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 9th will be given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 9th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.11%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of CME Group from $342.00 to $322.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Bank of America raised their target price on CME Group from $226.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. UBS Group cut their price target on CME Group from $310.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 6th. Wall Street Zen downgraded CME Group from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn raised CME Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $316.00 to $323.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, CME Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $291.81.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In related news, Director William R. Shepard bought 325 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 25th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $230.57 per share, with a total value of $74,935.25. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 260,442 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $60,050,111.94. This trade represents a 0.12% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 35,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 55,630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,606,111.30. The trade was a 38.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.