EP Wealth Advisors LLC Reduces Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

EP Wealth Advisors LLC decreased its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 10.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,223 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 148 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $258,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of CME. Gold Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Northwest Financial Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 966.7% during the fourth quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 160 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group during the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Atticus Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group during the third quarter worth $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on CME shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on CME Group from $198.00 to $206.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on CME Group from $222.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $210.00 target price (down previously from $235.00) on shares of CME Group in a report on Friday, April 5th. Argus lifted their target price on CME Group from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on CME Group from $226.00 to $228.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $217.80.

CME Group Trading Up 1.0 %

NASDAQ:CME opened at $198.49 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $206.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $209.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. CME Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $177.97 and a 12 month high of $223.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $71.47 billion, a PE ratio of 22.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.20 and a beta of 0.52.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.44 by $0.06. CME Group had a return on equity of 12.45% and a net margin of 56.84%. The company had revenue of $1.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.48 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.42 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 9.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be paid a $1.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.32%. CME Group’s payout ratio is currently 52.33%.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other news, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.91, for a total transaction of $8,436,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 67,455 shares in the company, valued at $14,226,934.05. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.91, for a total transaction of $8,436,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 67,455 shares in the company, valued at $14,226,934.05. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Charles P. Carey sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.44, for a total value of $586,320.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 7,163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,399,936.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 54,290 shares of company stock worth $11,393,700. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.