CME Group Inc. $CME Stock Sold by Cornerstone Advisors LLC

Cornerstone Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 35.1% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 42,591 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 23,056 shares during the quarter. Cornerstone Advisors LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $11,158,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CME. Allworth Financial LP raised its position in shares of CME Group by 26.4% during the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 69,524 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $18,214,000 after buying an additional 14,501 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 7.6% during the third quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,193,085 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $312,605,000 after acquiring an additional 83,770 shares during the last quarter. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 1,013.4% during the third quarter. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. now owns 561,661 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $147,407,000 after acquiring an additional 511,215 shares during the last quarter. PBU The Pension Fund of Early Childhood & Youth Educators boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 6.6% during the third quarter. PBU The Pension Fund of Early Childhood & Youth Educators now owns 54,328 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $14,233,000 after acquiring an additional 3,370 shares during the last quarter. Finally, King Luther Capital Management Corp grew its stake in CME Group by 9.0% during the third quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 1,010 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $265,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of CME Group stock opened at $317.97 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $113.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.85 and a beta of 0.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $286.01 and a 200-day moving average price of $281.54. CME Group Inc. has a one year low of $218.31 and a one year high of $329.16.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The financial services provider reported $3.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.99 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 63.33% and a return on equity of 16.23%. The business’s revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.68 EPS. Equities analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 12.35 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 11th will be issued a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 11th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. CME Group’s payout ratio is presently 42.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Terrence Duffy sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.44, for a total value of $4,116,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 40,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,150,497.20. This represents a 26.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Howard Siegel sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.00, for a total value of $606,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 19,873 shares in the company, valued at $6,021,519. The trade was a 9.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 33,511 shares of company stock valued at $9,714,580 over the last 90 days. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on CME shares. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of CME Group from $292.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 5th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $330.00 price objective (up from $295.00) on shares of CME Group in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Weiss Ratings raised CME Group from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Friday, October 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised CME Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, October 31st. Ten 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, CME Group has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $314.44.

CME Group Profile

CME Group operates a global marketplace for derivatives and other financial products. Through its exchanges—CME, CBOT, NYMEX and COMEX—it offers futures and options contracts tied to interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, energy, agricultural products and metals. The company also provides clearing and settlement services, market data and related products. Its electronic trading platform, CME Globex, supports access to its markets by participants around the world, alongside its open-outcry and privately negotiated trading services.