GLOBALT Investments LLC GA Lowers Position in CME Group Inc. $CME

GLOBALT Investments LLC GA trimmed its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 3.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,921 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 89 shares during the period. GLOBALT Investments LLC GA’s holdings in CME Group were worth $805,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in CME Group by 256.9% during the first quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,662 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $971,000 after buying an additional 2,636 shares in the last quarter. OMNI 360 Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in CME Group during the first quarter valued at approximately $367,000. Fulcrum Equity Management acquired a new position in CME Group during the first quarter valued at approximately $258,000. AIA Group Ltd lifted its position in CME Group by 17.8% during the first quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 16,645 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,416,000 after buying an additional 2,510 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Insight Inv LLC acquired a new position in CME Group during the first quarter valued at approximately $2,712,000. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CME Group Trading Up 0.2%

CME opened at $269.54 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $97.14 billion, a PE ratio of 26.12, a P/E/G ratio of 6.18 and a beta of 0.41. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $266.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $271.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. CME Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $213.94 and a 12-month high of $290.79.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.63 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.56 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 58.84% and a return on equity of 14.61%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.68 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 9th were issued a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 9th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.45%.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In other CME Group news, insider Timothy Francis Mccourt sold 379 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $259.83, for a total transaction of $98,475.57. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 9,508 shares in the company, valued at $2,470,463.64. The trade was a 3.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus sold 392 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.00, for a total transaction of $102,704.00. Following the sale, the general counsel owned 7,851 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,056,962. The trade was a 4.76% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 13,043 shares of company stock valued at $3,527,956. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CME has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of CME Group from $252.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of CME Group from $300.00 to $303.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Raymond James Financial reduced their target price on shares of CME Group from $309.00 to $307.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 13th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of CME Group from $288.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of CME Group from $312.00 to $314.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, CME Group has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $284.53.

About CME Group

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.