Assetmark Inc. Decreases Stake in CME Group Inc. $CME

Assetmark Inc. lowered its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 24.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 25,891 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 8,253 shares during the quarter. Assetmark Inc.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $6,995,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in CME. Jessup Wealth Management Inc grew its stake in shares of CME Group by 0.5% in the second quarter. Jessup Wealth Management Inc now owns 7,969 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,197,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its position in CME Group by 0.7% during the second quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 5,269 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,453,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the period. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC raised its holdings in CME Group by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 1,422 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $392,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its position in CME Group by 0.8% during the second quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 5,021 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,384,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atlatl Advisers LLC grew its holdings in CME Group by 1.8% during the third quarter. Atlatl Advisers LLC now owns 2,126 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $574,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Price Performance

CME opened at $303.07 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $109.29 billion, a PE ratio of 27.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The business’s 50-day moving average is $280.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $274.14. CME Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $244.43 and a 1 year high of $309.35.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.77 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.75 by $0.02. CME Group had a net margin of 62.45% and a return on equity of 14.65%. The business had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.64 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.52 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be paid a $1.30 dividend. This is a boost from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 10th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.80%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Argus cut their price target on CME Group from $308.00 to $295.00 in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on CME Group from $312.00 to $316.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on CME Group from $264.00 to $266.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on shares of CME Group from $295.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of CME Group from $305.00 to $328.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $299.53.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other CME Group news, Director Dennis Suskind sold 748 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $224,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 2,699 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $809,700. This trade represents a 21.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $269.55, for a total transaction of $6,738,750.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 65,804 shares in the company, valued at $17,737,468.20. This trade represents a 27.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

CME Group Company 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.