Westpac Banking Corp lowered its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME – Free Report) by 25.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 33,561 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 11,453 shares during the quarter. CME Group makes up about 0.7% of Westpac Banking Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Westpac Banking Corp’s holdings in CME Group were worth $9,912,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in CME Group by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,895,583 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,802,366,000 after acquiring an additional 588,509 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in CME Group by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,144,525 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,408,747,000 after purchasing an additional 56,725 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in CME Group during the 4th quarter valued at $1,523,241,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in CME Group by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,924,475 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,344,776,000 after purchasing an additional 134,242 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. raised its holdings in CME Group by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 4,319,763 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,179,858,000 after purchasing an additional 222,890 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other CME Group news, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 5,753 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.63, for a total value of $1,752,536.39. Following the sale, the insider owned 27,702 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,438,860.26. This represents a 17.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director William R. Shepard bought 325 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 25th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $230.57 per share, with a total value of $74,935.25. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 260,442 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $60,050,111.94. This represents a 0.12% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.
CME Group Stock Performance
CME Group (NASDAQ:CME – Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.11 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.77 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 63.19% and a return on equity of 15.42%. The company’s revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.80 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 12.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
CME Group Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 9th were paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 9th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. CME Group’s payout ratio is presently 44.37%.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on CME shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of CME Group from $266.00 to $271.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of CME Group from $342.00 to $322.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of CME Group from $323.00 to $273.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, June 5th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $320.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $292.12.
Check Out Our Latest Report on CME Group
CME Group 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.
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