CME Group Inc. $CME Shares Sold by Victory Capital Management Inc.

Victory Capital Management Inc. reduced its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 242,158 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 9,840 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned 0.07% of CME Group worth $65,429,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 11.5% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 10,027 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,660,000 after acquiring an additional 1,037 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank raised its holdings in CME Group by 11.0% in the second quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 4,353 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,200,000 after acquiring an additional 430 shares in the last quarter. Ellevest Inc. lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 19.9% during the second quarter. Ellevest Inc. now owns 2,359 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $650,000 after purchasing an additional 392 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 5,269 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,453,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in CME Group by 7.6% in the second quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 133,189 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $36,694,000 after purchasing an additional 9,361 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. TD Cowen raised their price target on CME Group from $305.00 to $328.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on CME Group from $312.00 to $316.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Argus reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of CME Group in a research report on Wednesday. Bank of America upped their price objective on CME Group from $201.00 to $209.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. Finally, Erste Group Bank raised CME Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $302.71.

CME Group Price Performance

CME Group stock opened at $316.81 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $114.24 billion, a PE ratio of 28.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.24. CME Group Inc. has a one year low of $248.53 and a one year high of $329.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $291.37 and a 200 day simple moving average of $277.29.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.77 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.75 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.64 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 14.65% and a net margin of 62.45%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.52 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be given a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 10th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is 44.80%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Dennis Suskind sold 748 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $224,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 2,699 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $809,700. The trade was a 21.70% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.90, for a total value of $91,770.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 24,999 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,647,194.10. The trade was a 1.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 30,248 shares of company stock valued at $8,355,450. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

CME Group Profile

CME Group Inc is a global markets company that operates some of the world’s largest and most liquid derivatives exchanges, including the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) and COMEX. The firm offers futures and options contracts across a broad range of asset classes — including interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, energy, agricultural commodities and metals — and serves a diverse client base of institutional investors, commercial hedgers, brokers and retail participants.

The company’s core services include electronic trading on the CME Globex platform, central clearing through CME Clearing, and distribution of market data, indexes and analytics.