Oak Harbor Wealth Partners LLC Lowers Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Oak Harbor Wealth Partners LLC trimmed its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 2.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,181 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 214 shares during the period. Oak Harbor Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $1,723,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in CME Group by 31.5% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,858,967 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $972,863,000 after purchasing an additional 1,163,103 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in CME Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $959,260,000. FMR LLC raised its position in CME Group by 1.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,029,771 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $806,841,000 after purchasing an additional 70,588 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of CME Group by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,668,138 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $734,435,000 after purchasing an additional 172,264 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,579,057 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $716,604,000 after purchasing an additional 125,263 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other news, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 40,000 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 29th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,226,934.05. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other CME Group news, Director Elizabeth A. Cook sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $211.52, for a total value of $211,520.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 18,241 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,858,336.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.91, for a total value of $8,436,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 67,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,226,934.05. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 50,640 shares of company stock worth $10,676,444 over the last quarter. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME traded up $0.25 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $211.73. 632,621 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,751,924. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $212.05 and a 200-day moving average price of $211.33. CME Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $175.73 and a 12-month high of $223.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $76.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.06, a P/E/G ratio of 5.56 and a beta of 0.48.

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

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be issued a $1.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.17%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.33%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on CME shares. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “sell” rating and set a $187.00 target price (up previously from $185.00) on shares of CME Group in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on CME Group from $222.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Bank of America lifted their target price on CME Group from $209.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and issued a $210.00 price target (down from $235.00) on shares of CME Group in a report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Argus lifted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $217.80.

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.