Clearbridge Investments LLC Reduces Holdings in CME Group Inc. $CME

Clearbridge Investments LLC cut its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 3.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 238,566 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 8,391 shares during the quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $65,148,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of CME. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in CME Group by 345.2% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 237,898 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $64,965,000 after purchasing an additional 184,459 shares during the last quarter. Dover Advisors LLC raised its position in CME Group by 95.5% during the 3rd quarter. Dover Advisors LLC now owns 5,597 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,512,000 after purchasing an additional 2,734 shares during the last quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC raised its position in CME Group by 32.5% during the 3rd quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 50,977 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,773,000 after purchasing an additional 12,503 shares during the last quarter. FLC Capital Advisors bought a new position in CME Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,122,000. Finally, Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ raised its position in CME Group by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ now owns 114,411 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,913,000 after purchasing an additional 1,777 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on CME shares. Raymond James Financial increased their target price on CME Group from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on CME Group from $362.00 to $353.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Rothschild & Co Redburn decreased their target price on CME Group from $340.00 to $316.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on CME Group from $266.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Argus reissued a “hold” rating on shares of CME Group in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $305.29.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CME Group news, General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus sold 3,291 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $333.37, for a total value of $1,097,120.67. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel owned 7,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,397,597.04. This trade represents a 31.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 5,753 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.63, for a total value of $1,752,536.39. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 27,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,438,860.26. The trade was a 17.20% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 44,044 shares of company stock valued at $13,297,507. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Down 2.1%

CME Group stock opened at $252.03 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $91.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.50, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.21. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $287.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $288.47. CME Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $244.56 and a 12 month high of $329.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.36 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.11 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $1.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.77 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 15.42% and a net margin of 63.19%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.80 EPS. Equities analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 12.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 9th will be issued a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 9th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.37%.

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.