Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC Reduces Stock Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC trimmed its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 6.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,655 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 120 shares during the period. Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $349,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CME. Morgan Stanley grew its position in CME Group by 31.5% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,858,967 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $972,863,000 after buying an additional 1,163,103 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its holdings in CME Group by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,029,771 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $806,841,000 after purchasing an additional 70,588 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in CME Group by 4.9% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,668,138 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $734,435,000 after purchasing an additional 172,264 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in CME Group by 3.6% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,579,057 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $716,604,000 after purchasing an additional 125,263 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its position in CME Group by 6.7% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,465,422 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $693,847,000 after buying an additional 217,101 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 40,000 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.91, for a total value of $8,436,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 67,455 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,226,934.05. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CME traded up $0.35 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $208.00. 1,687,088 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,783,085. The company has a market capitalization of $74.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.62, a PEG ratio of 5.19 and a beta of 0.48. CME Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $175.73 and a 1 year high of $223.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The company’s 50-day moving average is $214.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $211.49.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $1.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.48 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 12.45% and a net margin of 56.84%. CME Group’s quarterly revenue was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.42 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 9.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a dividend of $1.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.21%. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.10. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 52.33%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on CME. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on CME Group from $198.00 to $206.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $222.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “sell” rating and set a $187.00 target price (up previously from $185.00) on shares of CME Group in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Barclays increased their price target on CME Group from $226.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $210.00 price objective (down previously from $235.00) on shares of CME Group in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, CME Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $217.80.

CME Group Profile

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.