CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Shares Sold by Cravens & Co Advisors LLC

Cravens & Co Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 6.5% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 4,529 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 317 shares during the period. CME Group makes up about 0.8% of Cravens & Co Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 29th largest holding. Cravens & Co Advisors LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $999,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. PineStone Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 137.6% during the 2nd quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,260,644 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $444,443,000 after purchasing an additional 1,309,097 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 577.9% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 645,330 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $126,872,000 after purchasing an additional 550,133 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 11.3% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,283,196 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,038,676,000 after purchasing an additional 537,758 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 21,465.5% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 485,871 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,072,070,000 after purchasing an additional 483,618 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baillie Gifford & Co. purchased a new position in shares of CME Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $79,692,000. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In related news, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 400 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.92, for a total transaction of $89,168.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 25,067 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,587,935.64. The trade was a 1.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Timothy Francis Mccourt sold 1,374 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.12, for a total transaction of $312,062.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 7,275 shares in the company, valued at $1,652,298. This represents a 15.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 15,621 shares of company stock worth $3,441,063. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

CME Group Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ CME opened at $234.39 on Wednesday. CME Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $190.70 and a 52-week high of $235.18. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $224.18 and a 200-day moving average of $211.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $84.46 billion, a PE ratio of 24.65, a P/E/G ratio of 5.29 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

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

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued a dividend of $1.15 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.96%. CME Group’s payout ratio is 48.37%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $219.00 to $231.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $177.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $210.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of CME Group from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of CME Group from $195.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $224.47.

CME Group Profile

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.