Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. Sells 3,730 Shares of CME Group Inc. $CME

Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. trimmed its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 6.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 54,960 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,730 shares during the quarter. Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $15,148,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CME. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 256.9% in the first quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,662 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $971,000 after acquiring an additional 2,636 shares during the period. OMNI 360 Wealth Inc. bought a new stake in shares of CME Group in the first quarter valued at about $367,000. Fulcrum Equity Management bought a new stake in shares of CME Group in the first quarter valued at about $258,000. AIA Group Ltd boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 17.8% in the first quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 16,645 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,416,000 after acquiring an additional 2,510 shares during the period. Finally, 49 Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of CME Group in the first quarter valued at about $602,000. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

CME Group Stock Up 0.5%

CME stock opened at $262.89 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $94.74 billion, a PE ratio of 25.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.41 and a beta of 0.41. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $265.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $272.01. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $213.94 and a 52 week high of $290.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.63 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.56 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 14.61% and a net margin of 58.84%.CME Group’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.68 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate 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 paid a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 9th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. CME Group’s payout ratio is presently 48.45%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on CME. Citigroup raised shares of CME Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $275.00 to $300.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Raymond James Financial reduced their target price on shares of CME Group from $309.00 to $307.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of CME Group from $283.00 to $287.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of CME Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Sunday, July 13th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price target on CME Group from $288.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Eight 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $284.53.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CME Group news, General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus sold 392 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 18th. The stock was 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 owned 7,851 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,056,962. The trade was a 4.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Sunil Cutinho sold 11,896 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.47, for a total value of $3,229,407.12. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 17,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,734,436.80. The trade was a 40.55% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 13,043 shares of company stock worth $3,527,956 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.