Victory Capital Management Inc. Reduces Holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Victory Capital Management Inc. lowered its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 235,614 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,583 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned about 0.07% of CME Group worth $51,988,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in CME Group by 4.2% during the third quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,007 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $663,000 after buying an additional 121 shares during the period. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC boosted its stake in CME Group by 2.5% during the third quarter. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC now owns 10,439 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,303,000 after acquiring an additional 255 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its holdings in CME Group by 0.9% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 958,085 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $211,401,000 after purchasing an additional 8,561 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co. bought a new position in shares of CME Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $79,692,000. Finally, OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd purchased a new position in shares of CME Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $337,000. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on CME shares. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on CME Group from $195.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $235.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of CME Group from $187.00 to $191.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $224.47.

Insider Activity

In other CME Group news, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 7,593 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.59, for a total transaction of $1,629,381.87. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 55,607 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,932,706.13. This trade represents a 12.01 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.92, for a total transaction of $89,168.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 25,067 shares in the company, valued at $5,587,935.64. This trade represents a 1.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 15,621 shares of company stock worth $3,441,063 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Price Performance

NASDAQ CME opened at $223.42 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $222.44 and its 200 day moving average is $210.17. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $190.70 and a fifty-two week high of $230.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The company has a market capitalization of $80.45 billion, a PE ratio of 23.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.69 and a beta of 0.55.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.65 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.59 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.39% and a net margin of 57.34%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.25 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.23 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be paid a $1.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.06%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.37%.

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.