Equitable Trust Co. Lowers Stake in CME Group Inc. $CME

Equitable Trust Co. reduced its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 37.3% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 4,170 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,483 shares during the period. Equitable Trust Co.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $1,149,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in CME Group by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,643,827 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,190,661,000 after purchasing an additional 400,737 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 9.7% in the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 4,113,991 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,091,401,000 after acquiring an additional 363,130 shares in the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 3.0% in the second quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 2,920,046 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $804,823,000 after acquiring an additional 84,005 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 29.9% in the first quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,818,590 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $747,744,000 after acquiring an additional 648,591 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 10.3% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,783,759 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $735,539,000 after acquiring an additional 260,065 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME opened at $267.18 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock has a market cap of $96.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.86, a PEG ratio of 6.23 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a 50-day moving average of $268.22 and a two-hundred day moving average of $271.32. CME Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $213.94 and a 12-month high of $290.79.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.91 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.68 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 58.48% and a return on equity of 14.60%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.56 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 9th were given a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 9th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. CME Group’s payout ratio is presently 48.40%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CME has been the topic of several analyst reports. Citigroup raised shares of CME Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $275.00 to $300.00 in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of CME Group from $300.00 to $303.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of CME Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Sunday, July 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of CME Group from $283.00 to $287.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $303.00 to $312.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $283.71.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other news, Director William R. Shepard acquired 262 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 25th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $265.19 per share, with a total value of $69,479.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 258,459 shares in the company, valued at approximately $68,540,742.21. This represents a 0.10% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus sold 392 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.00, for a total transaction of $102,704.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 7,851 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,056,962. This represents a 4.76% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 13,043 shares of company stock worth $3,527,956. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.