CME Group Inc. $CME Shares Sold by Bank of Nova Scotia

Bank of Nova Scotia lowered its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 58.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 120,259 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 169,820 shares during the quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia’s holdings in CME Group were worth $33,140,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in CME Group during the second quarter worth about $1,571,447,000. GQG Partners LLC increased its position in CME Group by 7,676.3% during the 1st quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 2,205,041 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $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 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,653,957 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $704,068,000 after buying an additional 2,089,935 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $218,842,000. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 185.5% in the 1st quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,244,608 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $330,182,000 after buying an additional 808,740 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Price Performance

CME stock opened at $270.42 on Tuesday. CME Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $224.62 and a 1 year 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 stock’s 50 day moving average price is $271.53 and its 200 day moving average price is $272.62. The firm has a market cap of $97.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.20, a PEG ratio of 4.22 and a beta of 0.28.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.63 by $0.05. CME Group had a return on equity of 14.61% and a net margin of 58.84%.The company had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.56 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.68 earnings per share. CME Group’s revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 12th will be given 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 (DPR) is currently 48.45%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Rothschild & Co Redburn increased their price objective on CME Group from $297.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $282.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of CME Group from $313.00 to $304.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 10th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of CME Group in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Raymond James Financial decreased 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. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $289.18.

Insider Activity

In other CME Group news, insider Timothy Francis Mccourt sold 379 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 16th. The shares were 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. This represents a 3.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Harold Eugene Jr. Ford sold 1,000 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $263.53, for a total transaction of $263,530.00. Following the sale, the director owned 1,091 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $287,511.23. This trade represents a 47.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 2,147 shares of company stock worth $562,079. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.