Capital International Ltd. CA Sells 21,908 Shares of CME Group Inc. $CME

Capital International Ltd. CA cut its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 56.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 17,226 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 21,908 shares during the quarter. Capital International Ltd. CA’s holdings in CME Group were worth $4,704,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Asset Dedication LLC raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 64.9% in the fourth quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 94 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the period. FNY Investment Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 191.9% in the fourth quarter. Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID now owns 108 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the period. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 1,250.0% in the fourth quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 108 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, Anfield Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 197.4% in the fourth quarter. Anfield Capital Management LLC now owns 113 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on CME shares. TD Cowen lowered their target price on CME Group from $340.00 to $323.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Rothschild & Co Redburn decreased their price objective on CME Group from $340.00 to $316.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on CME Group from $266.00 to $271.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Erste Group Bank lowered CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on CME Group from $356.00 to $349.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, CME Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $305.29.

CME Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CME opened at $257.40 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. CME Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $244.56 and a 52-week high of $329.16. The firm has a market cap of $93.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.96, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.21. The business’s fifty day moving average is $288.35 and its 200 day moving average is $288.60.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.11 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.77 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 15.42% and a net margin of 63.19%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.80 EPS. Research analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 12.28 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 9th will be paid a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 9th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.37%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CME Group news, General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus sold 3,291 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $333.37, for a total value of $1,097,120.67. Following the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 7,192 shares in the company, valued at $2,397,597.04. This represents a 31.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 5,753 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.63, for a total value of $1,752,536.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 27,702 shares in the company, valued at $8,438,860.26. This represents a 17.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 44,044 shares of company stock worth $13,297,507 in the last ninety days. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by 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.