CME Group Inc. $CME Shares Sold by Rathbones Group PLC

Rathbones Group PLC trimmed its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 0.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 990,360 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 9,170 shares during the quarter. CME Group makes up approximately 1.2% of Rathbones Group PLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position. Rathbones Group PLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $292,503,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 12.9% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 67,317 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $19,882,000 after buying an additional 7,672 shares in the last quarter. First Nebraska Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of CME Group in the first quarter worth about $577,000. Keel Point LLC lifted its stake in shares of CME Group by 3.6% in the first quarter. Keel Point LLC now owns 1,510 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $446,000 after buying an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Groupama Asset Managment boosted its position in CME Group by 16.2% during the first quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 268,871 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $79,411,000 after acquiring an additional 37,526 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC acquired a new position in CME Group during the first quarter worth about $2,810,000. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CME has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $249.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Weiss Ratings lowered CME Group from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Piper Sandler cut their price target on CME Group from $329.00 to $295.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Rothschild & Co Redburn upgraded CME Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $316.00 to $323.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on CME Group from $267.00 to $245.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $291.81.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director William R. Shepard acquired 325 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 25th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $230.57 per share, for a total transaction of $74,935.25. Following the acquisition, the director owned 260,442 shares in the company, valued at approximately $60,050,111.94. This represents a 0.12% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 35,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $298.51, for a total transaction of $10,447,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 55,630 shares in the company, valued at $16,606,111.30. The trade was a 38.62% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CME opened at $267.79 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $250.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is $281.17. CME Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $218.31 and a 1-year high of $329.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $96.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.71, a PEG ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.23.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.91 by $0.08. CME Group had a net margin of 63.30% and a return on equity of 15.60%. The business had revenue of $1.71 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.68 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.96 EPS. The business’s revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 12.27 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 9th were paid a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 9th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is 44.11%.

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.