PineStone Asset Management Inc. Sells 754,662 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

PineStone Asset Management Inc. reduced its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 33.4% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,505,982 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 754,662 shares during the quarter. CME Group comprises 3.2% of PineStone Asset Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. PineStone Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $332,295,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Salomon & Ludwin LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group in the first quarter valued at about $28,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd bought a new position in CME Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $36,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of CME Group by 66.1% during the 2nd quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 196 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Asset Dedication LLC raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 515.2% during the 2nd quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 203 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 62.2% during the 3rd quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 193 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on CME shares. Redburn Atlantic cut shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $244.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $195.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of CME Group from $187.00 to $191.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. TD Cowen started coverage on CME Group in a report on Thursday, September 26th. They set a “hold” rating and a $221.00 price target for the company. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on CME Group from $193.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $222.73.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other CME Group news, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 7,593 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now directly owns 55,607 shares in the company, valued at $11,932,706.13. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 7,593 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the director now owns 55,607 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,932,706.13. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Timothy S. Bitsberger sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.96, for a total value of $226,960.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 10,589 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,403,279.44. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 15,221 shares of company stock worth $3,351,895. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Trading Down 0.8 %

CME stock opened at $225.36 on Friday. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $190.70 and a 52 week high of $230.36. The company has a market capitalization of $81.15 billion, a PE ratio of 23.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.72 and a beta of 0.55. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $220.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $209.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02.

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

CME Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 9th were given a dividend of $1.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 9th. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.04%. CME Group’s payout ratio is 48.37%.

About CME Group

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.