CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Shares Sold by Bleakley Financial Group LLC

Bleakley Financial Group LLC trimmed its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 4.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 13,440 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 641 shares during the quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $2,966,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Capital International Investors raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 24.1% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 15,809,175 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,403,557,000 after acquiring an additional 3,069,806 shares during the period. PineStone Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in CME Group by 137.6% in the 2nd quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,260,644 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $444,443,000 after purchasing an additional 1,309,097 shares in the last quarter. M&G Plc acquired a new stake in CME Group in the 1st quarter valued at $156,631,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in CME Group by 577.9% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 645,330 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $126,872,000 after purchasing an additional 550,133 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of CME Group by 11.3% during the second 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. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on CME Group from $195.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. 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 research report on Thursday, October 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of CME Group from $187.00 to $191.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $193.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on CME Group from $209.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, CME Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $220.07.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other CME Group news, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 7,593 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, CFO Lynne Fitzpatrick sold 754 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Sunday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.99, for a total value of $163,610.46. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 13,261 shares in the company, valued at $2,877,504.39. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 7,593 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the director now owns 55,607 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,932,706.13. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Performance

CME stock opened at $228.32 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $82.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.97, a P/E/G ratio of 7.76 and a beta of 0.55. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $216.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $208.39. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. CME Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $190.70 and a 12-month high of $230.12.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.53 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.53 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 56.98% and a return on equity of 12.82%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.30 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.04 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 9th were given a dividend of $1.15 per share. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 9th. CME Group’s payout ratio is 52.33%.

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.