Monte Financial Group LLC Sells 5,332 Shares of CME Group Inc. $CME

Monte Financial Group LLC cut its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 25.4% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 15,640 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 5,332 shares during the quarter. Monte Financial Group LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $4,097,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CME. Whipplewood Advisors LLC raised its position in CME Group by 2,075.0% in the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the period. First Community Trust NA bought a new stake in CME Group in the third quarter worth about $26,000. North Point Portfolio Managers Corp OH purchased a new position in shares of CME Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Main Street Group LTD purchased a new position in shares of CME Group during the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Compass Financial Management LLC boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 471.4% during the third quarter. Compass Financial Management LLC now owns 120 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In related news, Director Martin Gepsman sold 400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $302.50, for a total value of $121,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 25,244 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,636,310. The trade was a 1.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Julie Winkler sold 10,079 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.15, for a total value of $3,075,606.85. Following the transaction, the insider owned 21,482 shares in the company, valued at $6,555,232.30. The trade was a 31.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 32,979 shares of company stock valued at $9,552,762 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CME has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. CLSA set a $367.00 target price on CME Group in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. Barclays raised their price target on CME Group from $281.00 to $321.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded CME Group from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $367.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on CME Group from $337.00 to $359.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $286.00 to $270.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, CME Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $314.44.

CME Group Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of CME opened at $307.24 on Friday. CME Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $218.31 and a 1-year high of $329.16. The company has a 50-day moving average of $282.60 and a 200 day moving average of $280.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $109.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.20, a PEG ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.15. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 21st. The financial services provider reported $3.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.99 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.71 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 63.33% and a return on equity of 16.23%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.68 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 12.34 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 11th will be paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 11th. CME Group’s payout ratio is currently 42.66%.

About CME Group

CME Group Inc operates global derivatives marketplaces that provide trading, clearing and settlement services for futures and options contracts. Its products cover major asset classes, including interest rates, equity indexes, foreign currencies, agricultural commodities, energy and metals. The company also provides market data, benchmark information and related services used by financial institutions, corporations, producers, investors and other market participants.

CME Group’s exchange portfolio includes CME, the Chicago Board of Trade, the New York Mercantile Exchange and COMEX.