CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Shares Sold by Commerce Bank

Commerce Bank lessened its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 0.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 170,857 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,618 shares during the period. Commerce Bank’s holdings in CME Group were worth $35,982,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 31.5% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at $959,260,000. FMR LLC raised its position 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 valued at $806,841,000 after purchasing an additional 70,588 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in CME Group by 4.9% in the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in CME Group by 3.6% in the 3rd 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 last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other CME Group news, Director Elizabeth A. Cook sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $211.52, for a total transaction of $211,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,241 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,858,336.32. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.91, for a total value of $8,436,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 67,455 shares in the company, valued at $14,226,934.05. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Elizabeth A. Cook sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $211.52, for a total transaction of $211,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 18,241 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,858,336.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 50,640 shares of company stock worth $10,676,444. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CME has been the subject of several research reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $222.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $187.00 price target (up previously from $185.00) on shares of CME Group in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $198.00 to $206.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $226.00 to $228.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and issued a $210.00 target price (down previously from $235.00) on shares of CME Group in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $217.80.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME stock traded up $2.08 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $214.15. The stock had a trading volume of 497,301 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,749,748. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $175.73 and a fifty-two week high of $223.80. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $211.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $211.33. The firm has a market cap of $77.11 billion, a PE ratio of 24.13, a PEG ratio of 5.59 and a beta of 0.48.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.44 by $0.06. CME Group had a net margin of 56.84% and a return on equity of 12.45%. The firm had revenue of $1.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.48 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.42 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 9.72 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be issued a dividend of $1.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.15%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 52.33%.

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.