Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC Trims Holdings in CME Group Inc. $CME

Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC trimmed its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 14.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,135 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 527 shares during the period. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $864,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wayfinding Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of CME Group during the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. Webster Bank N. A. lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 206.9% during the 2nd quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 89 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 122.2% during the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the period. Highline Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 84.3% during the 2nd quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 94 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 612.5% during the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director William R. Shepard purchased 262 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 25th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $265.19 per share, with a total value of $69,479.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 258,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $68,540,742.21. This represents a 0.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus sold 392 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.00, for a total transaction of $102,704.00. Following the sale, the general counsel directly owned 7,851 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,056,962. The trade was a 4.76% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 13,043 shares of company stock worth $3,527,956 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:CME opened at $268.90 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. CME Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $213.94 and a 52-week high of $290.79. The company has a 50 day moving average of $266.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $271.57. The company has a market capitalization of $96.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.16 and a beta of 0.41.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.63 by $0.05. CME Group had a net margin of 58.84% and a return on equity of 14.61%. The company had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.56 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.68 earnings per share. CME Group’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 9th were given a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 9th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.40%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on CME shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $312.00 to $314.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of CME Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $266.00 to $300.00 in a report on Thursday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of CME Group in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of CME Group from $300.00 to $303.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Raymond James Financial dropped their target price on shares of CME Group from $309.00 to $307.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, CME Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $284.53.

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.