Capital Wealth Planning LLC Sells 99,568 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Capital Wealth Planning LLC decreased its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 6.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,393,223 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 99,568 shares during the period. CME Group comprises approximately 2.9% of Capital Wealth Planning LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 20th largest position. Capital Wealth Planning LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $273,908,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Gold Investment Management Ltd. bought a new position in CME Group in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC bought a new position in CME Group in the 1st quarter worth $28,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd bought a new position in CME Group in the 2nd quarter worth $36,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in CME Group by 66.1% in the 2nd quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 196 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the period. Finally, Asset Dedication LLC boosted its holdings in CME Group by 515.2% in the 2nd quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 203 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 170 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on CME. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of CME Group from $187.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of CME Group from $193.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of CME Group from $212.00 to $213.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Bank of America cut shares of CME Group from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $212.00 to $177.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $209.73.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In related news, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 7,593 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 55,607 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,932,706.13. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of CME stock opened at $216.99 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The company has a market capitalization of $78.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.69, a P/E/G ratio of 8.85 and a beta of 0.55. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $205.69 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $207.50. CME Group Inc. has a one year low of $190.70 and a one year high of $223.80.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.56 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.30 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 9.94 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be paid a dividend of $1.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 9th. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.12%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.