USS Investment Management Ltd Decreases Holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

USS Investment Management Ltd decreased its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 103,120 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,474 shares during the period. USS Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in CME Group were worth $23,951,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. lifted its position in CME Group by 570.6% during the fourth quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC increased its stake in CME Group by 50.0% during the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 129 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Financial Life Planners acquired a new position in CME Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Knuff & Co LLC acquired a new position in CME Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Banque Transatlantique SA acquired a new position in CME Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on CME. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $275.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $269.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $200.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $265.00 to $273.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $279.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $256.80.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In related news, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $273.17, for a total transaction of $81,951.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 24,767 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,765,601.39. This trade represents a 1.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Dennis Suskind sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.28, for a total transaction of $271,280.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 2,915 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $790,781.20. The trade was a 25.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 26,434 shares of company stock valued at $6,987,065. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Performance

CME opened at $277.94 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The company has a market cap of $100.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.74, a PEG ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.45. CME Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $190.70 and a 52-week high of $286.48. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $266.29 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $247.71.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.61 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $1.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.56 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 57.52% and a return on equity of 13.62%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.50 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be paid a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.30%.

About CME Group

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.