Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS Sells 4,651 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS lowered its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 6.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 62,690 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,651 shares during the quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS’s holdings in CME Group were worth $13,833,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CME. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in CME Group during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $819,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 4.4% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 419,532 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $92,570,000 after acquiring an additional 17,508 shares during the period. Radnor Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group in the third quarter worth $209,000. Catalina Capital Group LLC bought a new position in CME Group during the third quarter worth $207,000. Finally, Capital Management Corp VA raised its stake in CME Group by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Capital Management Corp VA now owns 34,568 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,627,000 after purchasing an additional 1,496 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Price Performance

CME stock traded down $0.47 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $220.70. 73,089 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,910,308. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $221.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $209.75. 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 Inc. has a 1-year low of $190.70 and a 1-year high of $230.36. The company has a market cap of $79.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.26, a PEG ratio of 5.62 and a beta of 0.55.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.65 by $0.03. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.39% and a net margin of 57.34%. The company had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.25 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.23 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued a dividend of $1.15 per share. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.08%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is 48.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other CME Group news, CFO Lynne Fitzpatrick sold 754 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Sunday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.99, for a total transaction of $163,610.46. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 13,261 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,877,504.39. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, insider Timothy Francis Mccourt sold 1,374 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.12, for a total value of $312,062.88. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 7,275 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,652,298. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Lynne Fitzpatrick sold 754 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Sunday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.99, for a total value of $163,610.46. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now 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. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 15,621 shares of company stock worth $3,441,063. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on CME. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of CME Group from $187.00 to $191.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on CME Group from $245.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on CME Group from $212.00 to $213.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Citigroup raised their target price on CME Group from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of CME Group from $210.00 to $233.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $222.73.

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.