CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Shares Sold by Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. trimmed its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 24.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 8,761 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,785 shares during the quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $1,933,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Independent Advisor Alliance increased its position in CME Group by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 7,135 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,574,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 37.8% during the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 54,120 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,942,000 after purchasing an additional 14,845 shares during the period. Summit Trail Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in CME Group by 9.7% in the third quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 3,608 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $796,000 after purchasing an additional 319 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of CME Group by 752.9% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 2,320 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $512,000 after buying an additional 2,048 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB lifted its stake in shares of CME Group by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 71,050 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $15,677,000 after acquiring an additional 542 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CME has been the topic of a number of research reports. Citigroup boosted their price objective on CME Group from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $210.00 to $233.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of CME Group from $177.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of CME Group in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. They set a “hold” rating and a $221.00 target price for the company. Finally, Redburn Atlantic lowered shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $244.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $224.47.

CME Group Stock Up 0.1 %

CME Group stock opened at $229.37 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The company’s 50-day moving average is $223.86 and its 200-day moving average is $211.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $82.66 billion, a PE ratio of 24.12, a P/E/G ratio of 5.28 and a beta of 0.55. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $190.70 and a fifty-two week high of $230.74.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.65 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 57.34% and a return on equity of 13.39%. The company’s revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.25 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.22 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued a dividend of $1.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.01%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.37%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 7,593 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.59, for a total value of $1,629,381.87. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 55,607 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,932,706.13. This trade represents a 12.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Timothy S. Bitsberger sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.96, for a total transaction of $226,960.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 10,589 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,403,279.44. This represents a 8.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 15,621 shares of company stock worth $3,441,063. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

About CME Group

CME Group Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates contract markets for the trading of futures and options on futures contracts worldwide. It offers futures and options products based on interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, agricultural commodities, energy, and metals, as well as fixed income and foreign currency trading services.