Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH Cuts Holdings in CME Group Inc. $CME

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH reduced its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 381,387 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 17,356 shares during the quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH’s holdings in CME Group were worth $103,047,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of CME. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 11.5% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 10,027 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,660,000 after acquiring an additional 1,037 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 147.4% during the second quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 2,590 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $714,000 after purchasing an additional 1,543 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in CME Group by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 5,626 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,551,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 62.0% in the 2nd quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 21,829 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,017,000 after purchasing an additional 8,355 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Opal Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in CME Group by 55.3% during the second quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 921 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $254,000 after acquiring an additional 328 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on CME shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of CME Group in a report on Monday, December 29th. Rothschild & Co Redburn boosted their target price on shares of CME Group from $297.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Citigroup raised shares of CME Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $275.00 to $300.00 in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Cowen raised shares of CME Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating on shares of CME Group in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $291.82.

CME Group Trading Up 0.1%

NASDAQ:CME opened at $279.91 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $100.94 billion, a PE ratio of 27.12, a P/E/G ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.27. The business’s 50 day moving average is $274.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $271.85. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $230.19 and a 52 week 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. CME Group had a return on equity of 14.61% and a net margin of 58.84%.The business had revenue of $1.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.56 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.68 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 12th were given a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 12th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.45%.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other CME Group news, Director William R. Shepard acquired 251 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 30th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $278.37 per share, with a total value of $69,870.87. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 258,710 shares in the company, valued at approximately $72,017,102.70. This represents a 0.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Harold Eugene Jr. Ford sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $263.53, for a total transaction of $263,530.00. Following the sale, the director owned 1,091 shares in the company, valued at approximately $287,511.23. This trade represents a 47.82% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Company 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.