Scharf Investments LLC Sells 31,055 Shares of CME Group Inc. $CME

Scharf Investments LLC decreased its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 7.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 391,015 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 31,055 shares during the quarter. CME Group accounts for approximately 2.9% of Scharf Investments LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Scharf Investments LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $106,782,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in CME. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 11.5% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 10,027 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,660,000 after buying an additional 1,037 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in CME Group by 16.8% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 65,704 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $18,109,000 after buying an additional 9,463 shares in the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in CME Group during the second quarter worth $246,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its stake in CME Group by 0.4% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 12,210 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,365,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 4,104.2% during the second quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 28,841 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,949,000 after acquiring an additional 28,155 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In related news, Director Dennis Suskind sold 748 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $224,400.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 2,699 shares in the company, valued at $809,700. This trade represents a 21.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.90, for a total value of $91,770.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 24,999 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,647,194.10. This represents a 1.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 8,539 shares of company stock worth $2,713,821 in the last ninety days. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CME has been the topic of several analyst reports. Rothschild & Co Redburn upped their target price on shares of CME Group from $333.00 to $347.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 12th. 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. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on CME Group from $319.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Raymond James Financial dropped their price target on CME Group from $311.00 to $310.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on CME Group from $304.00 to $312.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $304.06.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME Group stock opened at $295.35 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The firm has a market cap of $105.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.47, a P/E/G ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.24. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $303.43 and a 200 day simple moving average of $282.36. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $248.53 and a fifty-two week 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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.75 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.64 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 14.65% and a net margin of 62.45%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.52 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. This is a boost from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 10th. CME Group’s payout ratio is currently 46.59%.

About CME Group

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.