Sarasin & Partners LLP Cuts Stock Holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Sarasin & Partners LLP trimmed its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 12.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,755,615 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 246,052 shares during the quarter. CME Group comprises approximately 3.7% of Sarasin & Partners LLP’s holdings, making the stock its 10th largest position. Sarasin & Partners LLP owned 0.49% of CME Group worth $387,376,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 3,625 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $782,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its holdings in CME Group by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 1,160 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $250,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. Lantz Financial LLC grew its position in CME Group by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 4,561 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $982,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Lester Murray Antman dba SimplyRich grew its position in CME Group by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Lester Murray Antman dba SimplyRich now owns 7,667 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,507,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Essex LLC increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. Essex LLC now owns 1,649 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $355,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 7,593 shares of CME Group 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 55,607 shares in the company, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other CME Group news, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 7,593 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.59, for a total transaction of $1,629,381.87. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 55,607 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,932,706.13. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Lynne Fitzpatrick sold 754 shares of the stock in a transaction on Sunday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.99, for a total value of $163,610.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 13,261 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,877,504.39. 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.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Barclays lifted their target price on CME Group from $209.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on CME Group from $195.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Redburn Atlantic cut CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $244.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Tuesday. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of CME Group from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $212.00 to $213.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, CME Group has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $217.71.

CME Group Stock Performance

CME Group stock remained flat at $221.25 on Friday. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 143,072 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,948,984. The company’s fifty day moving average is $214.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $207.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $79.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.76 and a beta of 0.55. CME Group Inc. has a one year low of $190.70 and a one year high of $226.78.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.53 by $0.03. The business 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.30 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.04 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Investors of record on Monday, September 9th were given a $1.15 dividend. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 9th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.72%.

CME Group Company 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.