CME Group Inc. $CME Shares Sold by Seilern Investment Management Ltd

Seilern Investment Management Ltd decreased its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 87.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 23,826 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 163,414 shares during the quarter. CME Group makes up 0.5% of Seilern Investment Management Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 20th largest position. Seilern Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in CME Group were worth $6,506,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Caldwell Trust Co raised its position in CME Group by 116.3% during the third quarter. Caldwell Trust Co now owns 93 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA purchased a new stake in CME Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Financial Consulate Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 1,250.0% during the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 108 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sagard Holdings Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of CME Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In related news, Director William R. Shepard purchased 251 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 30th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $278.37 per share, with a total value of $69,870.87. Following the purchase, the director owned 258,710 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $72,017,102.70. This represents a 0.10% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 4,200 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.65, for a total value of $1,300,530.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 43,007 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,317,117.55. The trade was a 8.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 8,539 shares of company stock worth $2,713,821 in the last three months. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

CME Group Price Performance

CME Group stock opened at $306.56 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $109.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.47, a P/E/G ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.24. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $300.91 and its 200 day moving average price is $280.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. CME Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $248.53 and a 1 year high of $329.16.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.77 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.75 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.64 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 62.45% and a return on equity of 14.65%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.52 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This is a boost from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 10th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. CME Group’s payout ratio is currently 46.59%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on CME shares. Erste Group Bank raised shares of CME Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of CME Group from $312.00 to $316.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of CME Group from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Bank of America raised their target price on CME Group from $201.00 to $209.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on CME Group from $304.00 to $312.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $304.06.

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.