O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC reduced its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 1.3% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 19,388 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 255 shares during the quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $4,174,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of CME. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in CME Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $959,260,000. Capital Wealth Planning LLC purchased a new position in shares of CME Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $253,563,000. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 14,589,867 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,072,654,000 after acquiring an additional 1,172,575 shares during the last quarter. M&G Plc purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 1st quarter valued at $156,631,000. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 24.5% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,872,774 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $394,406,000 after purchasing an additional 368,864 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CME has been the subject of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of CME Group from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their price target for the company from $206.00 to $187.00 in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “sell” rating and set a $187.00 target price (up from $185.00) on shares of CME Group in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Barclays lowered their price objective on CME Group from $228.00 to $208.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $209.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $226.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $215.82.

CME Group Stock Down 1.2 %

CME traded down $2.44 on Tuesday, hitting $197.44. The company had a trading volume of 2,175,344 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,962,732. CME Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $188.36 and a 52-week high of $223.80. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $200.87 and a 200-day simple moving average of $207.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $71.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.58, a P/E/G ratio of 6.64 and a beta of 0.52.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.50 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $1.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.48 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.42 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 9.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 25th. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th were given a dividend of $1.15 per share. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 7th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other news, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 29th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $14,226,934.05. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other CME Group news, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 40,000 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 67,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,226,934.05. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Charles P. Carey sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.44, for a total transaction of $586,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 7,163 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,399,936.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 54,290 shares of company stock worth $11,393,700. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.