CME Group Inc. $CME Stake Decreased by Geode Capital Management LLC

Geode Capital Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 9,327,587 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 50,804 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $2,544,912,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Asset Dedication LLC raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 64.9% during the fourth quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 94 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of CME Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 1,250.0% during the fourth quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 108 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 191.9% during the fourth quarter. Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID now owns 108 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Anfield Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 197.4% during the fourth quarter. Anfield Capital Management LLC now owns 113 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Trading Down 1.2%

CME Group stock opened at $279.10 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The firm has a market cap of $101.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.23. CME Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $257.17 and a 1 year high of $329.16. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $294.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $289.61.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.36 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.11 by $0.25. CME Group had a return on equity of 15.42% and a net margin of 63.19%.The business had revenue of $1.88 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.77 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.80 earnings per share. CME Group’s revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 12.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 9th will be issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 9th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.37%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 35,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.51, for a total transaction of $10,447,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 55,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,606,111.30. This represents a 38.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 5,753 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.63, for a total value of $1,752,536.39. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 27,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,438,860.26. This represents a 17.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 44,044 shares of company stock valued at $13,297,507 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CME has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods initiated coverage on CME Group in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $305.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on CME Group from $295.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on CME Group from $313.00 to $329.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on CME Group from $342.00 to $322.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on CME Group from $266.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $305.29.

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.