Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in CME Group Inc. $CME

Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 16.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,951 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,411 shares during the quarter. Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $3,263,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in CME Group by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,895,583 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,802,366,000 after purchasing an additional 588,509 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in CME Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,523,241,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in CME Group by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,924,475 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,344,776,000 after buying an additional 134,242 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in CME Group by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,812,914 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,300,450,000 after buying an additional 130,848 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors raised its position in CME Group by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,197,668 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,146,593,000 after buying an additional 87,411 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In related news, General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus sold 3,291 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $333.37, for a total value of $1,097,120.67. Following the sale, the general counsel owned 7,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,397,597.04. This trade represents a 31.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 5,753 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.63, for a total transaction of $1,752,536.39. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 27,702 shares in the company, valued at $8,438,860.26. This represents a 17.20% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 44,044 shares of company stock valued at $13,297,507. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CME has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of CME Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Sunday, April 26th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of CME Group from $362.00 to $353.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of CME Group from $340.00 to $323.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of CME Group from $275.00 to $267.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $305.29.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CME opened at $255.94 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $92.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.84, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.21. CME Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $244.56 and a 12 month high of $329.16. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $286.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $288.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.36 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.11 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.77 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 63.19% and a return on equity of 15.42%. The business’s revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.80 EPS. Analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 12.28 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 9th will be paid a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 9th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.37%.

About CME Group

CME Group Inc is a global markets company that operates some of the world’s largest and most liquid derivatives exchanges, including the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) and COMEX. The firm offers futures and options contracts across a broad range of asset classes — including interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, energy, agricultural commodities and metals — and serves a diverse client base of institutional investors, commercial hedgers, brokers and retail participants.

The company’s core services include electronic trading on the CME Globex platform, central clearing through CME Clearing, and distribution of market data, indexes and analytics.