Marathon Asset Management Ltd Sells 43,143 Shares of CME Group Inc. $CME

Marathon Asset Management Ltd trimmed its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 27.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 116,204 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 43,143 shares during the quarter. Marathon Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in CME Group were worth $31,396,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CME. PineStone Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,570,087 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $694,412,000 after buying an additional 29,509 shares during the last quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in CME Group by 3.1% during the third quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 47,678 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $12,882,000 after buying an additional 1,443 shares during the last quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC raised its position in CME Group by 15.4% during the third quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC now owns 1,548 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $418,000 after acquiring an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC raised its position in CME Group by 1.7% during the third quarter. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC now owns 24,247 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,551,000 after acquiring an additional 397 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Carnegie Investment Counsel lifted its stake in CME Group by 4.7% in the third quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 155,724 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $42,075,000 after acquiring an additional 6,939 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Harold Eugene Jr. Ford sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $263.53, for a total transaction of $263,530.00. Following the transaction, the director directly 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. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 25,000 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $269.55, for a total transaction of $6,738,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 65,804 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,737,468.20. This trade represents a 27.53% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on CME shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of CME Group in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on CME Group from $264.00 to $263.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 4th. Barclays boosted their price target on CME Group from $280.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 12th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on CME Group from $288.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on CME Group from $313.00 to $304.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 10th. 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.com, CME Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $290.82.

CME Group Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of CME stock opened at $276.73 on Monday. CME Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $224.62 and a 12-month high of $290.79. The company has a market capitalization of $99.79 billion, a PE ratio of 26.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.28. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $273.14 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $271.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $1.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.56 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 14.61% and a net margin of 58.84%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.68 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

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

CME Group Profile

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.