Morningstar Investment Management LLC Decreases Holdings in CME Group Inc. $CME

Morningstar Investment Management LLC reduced its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 33.8% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 8,546 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,362 shares during the period. Morningstar Investment Management LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $2,524,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Asset Dedication LLC grew its holdings in CME Group by 64.9% in the fourth quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 94 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 2,075.0% during the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of CME Group during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Elkhorn Partners Limited Partnership purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on CME shares. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of CME Group from $323.00 to $273.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of CME Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of CME Group from $356.00 to $349.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on CME Group from $324.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered CME Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Sunday, July 12th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $291.81.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other CME Group news, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 5,753 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.63, for a total transaction of $1,752,536.39. Following the transaction, the insider owned 27,702 shares in the company, valued at $8,438,860.26. The trade was a 17.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 35,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.51, for a total value 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. The trade was a 38.62% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Key Headlines Impacting CME Group

Here are the key news stories impacting CME Group this week:

• Positive Sentiment: CME Group’s Q2 results topped expectations, and the stock was reported higher on the earnings beat. US Stock Market: CME shares jump 6% after Q2 profit beats estimates; strong hedging demand boosts results
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts noted strong fundamentals and at least one rating upgrade following the earnings release, which can support investor confidence. CME Group: Q2 Earnings Results Lead To A Rating Upgrade
• Neutral Sentiment: UBS reiterated a Hold rating and kept its $260 target, signaling solid fundamentals but limited upside at current valuation. Neutral Stance Reiterated on CME as Solid Fundamentals Meet Valuation Limits; $260 Price Target Maintained
• Negative Sentiment: Bank of America and JPMorgan both maintained bearish/underweight views, even though they slightly raised price targets, highlighting ongoing caution about upside. Analyst price target updates
• Negative Sentiment: Short-interest data showed no meaningful short position, so this headline is unlikely to be a real stock driver and does not change the core thesis.

CME Group Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of CME stock opened at $255.31 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $254.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $281.22. CME Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $218.31 and a twelve month high of $329.16. The company has a market capitalization of $92.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.65, a PEG ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.25. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.91 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $1.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.68 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 63.30% and a return on equity of 15.60%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.96 EPS. Research analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 12.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 9th were given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 9th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is 44.11%.

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.