CME Group Inc. $CME Shares Sold by BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S

BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S lowered its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 14.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 36,763 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 6,018 shares during the quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S’s holdings in CME Group were worth $10,039,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Asset Dedication LLC boosted its position in CME Group by 64.9% during the fourth quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 94 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in CME Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates boosted its position in CME Group by 1,250.0% during the fourth quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 108 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID boosted its position in CME Group by 191.9% during the fourth quarter. Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID now owns 108 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Anfield Capital Management LLC boosted its position in CME Group by 197.4% during the fourth quarter. Anfield Capital Management LLC now owns 113 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus sold 3,291 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $333.37, for a total value of $1,097,120.67. Following the transaction, the general counsel owned 7,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,397,597.04. This trade represents a 31.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 35,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $298.51, for a total transaction of $10,447,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 55,630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,606,111.30. This represents a 38.62% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 44,044 shares of company stock valued at $13,297,507. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CME opened at $257.40 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The company has a market cap of $93.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.21. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $244.56 and a fifty-two week high of $329.16. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $288.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $288.60.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.77 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 63.19% and a return on equity of 15.42%. CME Group’s revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.80 earnings per share. Analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 12.28 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 9th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.37%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on CME. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of CME Group from $313.00 to $329.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of CME Group from $275.00 to $267.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of CME Group from $266.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods started coverage on shares of CME Group in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $305.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Argus reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of CME Group in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. One research 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 issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $305.29.

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.