Cerity Partners LLC Cuts Stake in CME Group Inc. $CME

Cerity Partners LLC decreased its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 28.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 125,160 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 48,966 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $34,497,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in CME Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,571,447,000. GQG Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 7,676.3% during the first quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 2,205,041 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $584,975,000 after purchasing an additional 2,176,685 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 370.5% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,653,957 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $704,068,000 after purchasing an additional 2,089,935 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of CME Group during the first quarter worth $218,842,000. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 185.5% in the first quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,244,608 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $330,182,000 after purchasing an additional 808,740 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of CME Group in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on CME Group from $252.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on CME Group from $264.00 to $263.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Argus lowered their price objective on CME Group from $308.00 to $295.00 in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on CME Group from $283.00 to $287.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 13th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, CME Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $289.18.

CME Group Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of CME stock opened at $270.42 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $271.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $272.62. CME Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $224.62 and a twelve month high of $290.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The company has a market capitalization of $97.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.20, a PEG ratio of 4.22 and a beta of 0.28.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.63 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.56 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 58.84% and a return on equity of 14.61%. CME Group’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.68 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be issued a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is 48.45%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Timothy Francis Mccourt sold 379 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $259.83, for a total value of $98,475.57. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 9,508 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,470,463.64. The trade was a 3.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, 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 stock was sold at an average price of $262.00, for a total value of $102,704.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 7,851 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,056,962. This represents a 4.76% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 2,147 shares of company stock valued at $562,079. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.