Interval Partners LP Cuts Stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Interval Partners LP decreased its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 8.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 53,250 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,961 shares during the period. Interval Partners LP’s holdings in CME Group were worth $12,366,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Investment Management Corp of Ontario increased its position in shares of CME Group by 32.5% in the fourth quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario now owns 15,794 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,668,000 after buying an additional 3,870 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $9,553,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in shares of CME Group by 24.7% in the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,135,753 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $728,260,000 after purchasing an additional 621,713 shares during the last quarter. JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd now owns 223,879 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $51,991,000 after purchasing an additional 1,819 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KKM Financial LLC raised its position in shares of CME Group by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. KKM Financial LLC now owns 11,179 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,596,000 after purchasing an additional 549 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CME Group Stock Performance

CME Group stock opened at $284.35 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $102.47 billion, a PE ratio of 29.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.45. CME Group Inc. has a one year low of $190.70 and a one year high of $286.48. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $264.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $245.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.01.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.61 by $0.19. CME Group had a net margin of 57.52% and a return on equity of 13.62%. The business had revenue of $1.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.56 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.50 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.76%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. CME Group’s payout ratio is 50.30%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group boosted their price target on CME Group from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of CME Group from $265.00 to $273.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on CME Group from $269.00 to $279.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Raymond James upgraded CME Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $287.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $269.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $256.80.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total value of $2,888,378.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 21,885 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,453,085.45. This trade represents a 34.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Derek Sammann sold 4,650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.61, for a total value of $1,304,836.50. Following the sale, the insider now owns 8,336 shares in the company, valued at $2,339,164.96. The trade was a 35.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 34,726 shares of company stock worth $8,975,813. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

CME Group Profile

CME Group Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates contract markets for the trading of futures and options on futures contracts worldwide. It offers futures and options products based on interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, agricultural commodities, energy, and metals, as well as fixed income and foreign currency trading services.