CME Group Inc. $CME Shares Sold by Banco Santander S.A.

Banco Santander S.A. decreased its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 18.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 100,971 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 22,114 shares during the quarter. Banco Santander S.A.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $27,830,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Great Lakes Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 1,661 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $441,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,952 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $538,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 5,021 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,384,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 59.2% during the 2nd quarter. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC now owns 113 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Finally, OneAscent Financial Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 4.0% during the 1st quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC now owns 1,106 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $293,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME Group stock opened at $269.54 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $97.14 billion, a PE ratio of 26.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.65 and a beta of 0.41. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $266.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $271.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. CME Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $213.94 and a 1 year high of $290.79.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.63 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.56 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 58.84% and a return on equity of 14.61%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.68 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 9th were given a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 9th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In related news, insider Sunil Cutinho sold 11,896 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.47, for a total transaction of $3,229,407.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 17,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,734,436.80. This represents a 40.55% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus sold 392 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.00, for a total transaction of $102,704.00. Following the sale, 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. Insiders sold 13,043 shares of company stock worth $3,527,956 in the last quarter. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of CME Group from $285.00 to $280.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of CME Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Sunday, July 13th. Raymond James Financial cut their price objective on shares of CME Group from $309.00 to $307.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 13th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of CME Group from $298.00 to $280.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $283.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, October 13th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $284.53.

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.