Conning Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in CME Group Inc. $CME

Conning Inc. lessened its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 7.3% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 115,274 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 9,086 shares during the period. Conning Inc.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $34,046,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC raised its position in CME Group by 2,075.0% in the first quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the period. Asset Dedication LLC raised its holdings in CME Group by 64.9% in the 4th quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 94 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. FNY Investment Advisers LLC purchased a new position in CME Group during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Elkhorn Partners Limited Partnership bought a new stake in CME Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in CME Group in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on CME shares. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on CME Group from $356.00 to $349.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Erste Group Bank cut shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of CME Group from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $320.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on CME Group from $310.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $293.59.

CME Group News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting CME Group this week:

• Positive Sentiment: CME announced new products aimed at expanding trading activity, including Treasury LINK for U.S. Treasury spread trading and a new agriculture index that offers a unified benchmark for the global farm economy. CME Group to launch Treasury LINK for enhanced US Treasury spread trading CME Group’s New Agriculture Index Delivers Unified Price Benchmark for the Global Farm Economy
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley kept an overweight rating but lowered its price target on CME to $324 from $353, while Barclays cut its target to $270 and moved to equal weight, signaling reduced near-term expectations but not a fundamentally bearish view. Morgan Stanley cuts CME price target Barclays cuts CME price target
• Negative Sentiment: The CFTC blocked CME’s plan to fast-track 24/7 crude oil futures trading, a setback that could limit a potentially important new revenue stream and raises regulatory risk around product innovation. CFTC to block CME’s plan for 24/7 crude oil futures trading CFTC Blocks for Now CME’s Plan to Offer 24/7 Oil Futures
• Negative Sentiment: Reports also pointed to weaker trading volumes and rising competition weighing on CME Group, which could pressure transaction-based revenue growth if activity remains soft. Competition And Weaker Trading Volumes Are Weighing On CME Group (CME) Stock

CME Group Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:CME opened at $240.27 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $262.66 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $283.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $87.06 billion, a PE ratio of 20.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. CME Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $218.31 and a 1 year high of $329.16.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.11 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $1.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.77 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 63.19% and a return on equity of 15.42%. The company’s revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.80 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 12.24 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 9th were paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 9th. CME Group’s payout ratio is presently 44.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director William R. Shepard acquired 325 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 25th. The stock was bought at an average price of $230.57 per share, with a total value of $74,935.25. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 260,442 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $60,050,111.94. This represents a 0.12% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 5,753 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.63, for a total value of $1,752,536.39. Following the sale, the insider owned 27,702 shares in the company, valued at $8,438,860.26. This trade represents a 17.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.