CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Shares Sold by MetLife Investment Management LLC

MetLife Investment Management LLC lowered its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 93,622 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,406 shares during the quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $20,658,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 8.0% in the 1st quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 1,078 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $232,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. boosted its stake in CME Group by 0.9% in the first quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. now owns 17,060 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,673,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the period. Swedbank AB bought a new position in shares of CME Group during the first quarter valued at approximately $15,017,000. Atria Investments Inc raised its position in shares of CME Group by 7.4% during the 1st quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 30,295 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,522,000 after purchasing an additional 2,096 shares during the period. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 429.1% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 47,521 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,231,000 after purchasing an additional 38,540 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Up 1.3 %

NASDAQ CME opened at $237.33 on Thursday. CME Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $190.70 and a 12 month high of $238.12. The company has a market capitalization of $85.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.96, a PEG ratio of 5.29 and a beta of 0.55. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $224.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $211.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.65 by $0.03. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.39% and a net margin of 57.34%. The company had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.59 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.25 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued a dividend of $1.15 per share. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is 48.37%.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In other CME Group news, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 7,593 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.59, for a total transaction of $1,629,381.87. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 55,607 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,932,706.13. The trade was a 12.01 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.92, for a total value of $89,168.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 25,067 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,587,935.64. This trade represents a 1.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 15,621 shares of company stock worth $3,441,063 in the last quarter. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on CME shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on CME Group from $195.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $235.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Redburn Atlantic lowered shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $244.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of CME Group from $219.00 to $231.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $224.47.

CME Group Company 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.