Clearbridge Investments LLC Sells 8,391 Shares of CME Group Inc. $CME

Clearbridge Investments LLC cut its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 3.4% 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 238,566 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 8,391 shares during the quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC owned about 0.07% of CME Group worth $65,148,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in CME. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,895,583 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,802,366,000 after purchasing an additional 588,509 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 4th quarter valued at $1,523,241,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,924,475 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,344,776,000 after purchasing an additional 134,242 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,812,914 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,300,450,000 after purchasing an additional 130,848 shares during the period. Finally, Capital International Investors raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,197,668 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,146,593,000 after purchasing an additional 87,411 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CME has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on CME Group from $313.00 to $329.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. 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. Argus reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of CME Group in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on CME Group from $362.00 to $353.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Erste Group Bank lowered CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $305.29.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In related news, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 5,753 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.63, for a total transaction of $1,752,536.39. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 27,702 shares in the company, valued at $8,438,860.26. This represents a 17.20% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus sold 3,291 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the general counsel owned 7,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,397,597.04. This represents a 31.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 44,044 shares of company stock worth $13,297,507 in the last ninety days. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

CME Group Price Performance

CME opened at $252.03 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $287.43 and a 200-day moving average price of $288.47. CME Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $244.56 and a 12-month high of $329.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $91.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.50, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.21.

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

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 9th will be issued a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 9th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.37%.

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.