Canoe Financial LP Lowers Position in CME Group Inc. $CME

Canoe Financial LP lessened its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 3.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 556,262 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 19,800 shares during the quarter. CME Group makes up about 2.1% of Canoe Financial LP’s holdings, making the stock its 17th largest position. Canoe Financial LP’s holdings in CME Group were worth $150,296,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Jessup Wealth Management Inc lifted its stake in CME Group by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Jessup Wealth Management Inc now owns 7,969 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,197,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of CME Group by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 5,269 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,453,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 2.3% in the first quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 1,661 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $441,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 2.7% during the second quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 1,422 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $392,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in CME Group by 2.0% during the second quarter. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,952 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $538,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on CME. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $310.00 to $318.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of CME Group in a research report on Monday. Bank of America boosted their price objective on CME Group from $201.00 to $209.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on CME Group from $314.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on CME Group from $282.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $290.82.

CME Group Trading Up 0.3%

CME Group stock opened at $276.37 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $224.62 and a fifty-two week high of $290.79. The stock has a market cap of $99.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.78, a PEG ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.28. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $272.96 and its 200-day moving average price is $271.79.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 14.61% and a net margin of 58.84%.The firm’s revenue was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.68 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at CME Group

In other news, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $269.55, for a total value of $6,738,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 65,804 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,737,468.20. This represents a 27.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Harold Eugene Jr. Ford sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $287,511.23. This trade represents a 47.82% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.