Leonteq Securities AG Cuts Stock Position in CME Group Inc. $CME

Leonteq Securities AG lessened its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 54.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,875 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,267 shares during the period. Leonteq Securities AG’s holdings in CME Group were worth $554,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund increased its stake in CME Group by 57.8% during the 1st quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 254,747 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $75,240,000 after purchasing an additional 93,270 shares in the last quarter. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of CME Group by 728.1% in the first quarter. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC now owns 12,272 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,625,000 after buying an additional 10,790 shares in the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 4.9% during the first quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 15,151 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,475,000 after buying an additional 702 shares during the last quarter. Center for Wealth Management Advisory grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 2.0% during the first quarter. Center for Wealth Management Advisory now owns 5,920 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,749,000 after buying an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Root Financial Partners LLC increased its position in shares of CME Group by 13.2% during the first quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 394 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $116,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of CME Group stock opened at $236.60 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $85.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.25. The company’s 50 day moving average is $267.17 and its 200 day moving average is $284.28. CME Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $218.31 and a twelve month high of $329.16. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.36 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.11 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $1.88 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.77 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 63.19% and a return on equity of 15.42%. The firm’s revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.80 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 12.28 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 9th were issued a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 9th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. CME Group’s payout ratio is presently 44.37%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on CME shares. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $267.00 to $245.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Barclays reduced their target price on CME Group from $343.00 to $316.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. UBS Group restated an “overweight” rating on shares of CME Group in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Wall Street Zen raised CME Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, June 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler set a $320.00 price objective on CME Group in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $300.94.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director William R. Shepard bought 325 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 25th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $230.57 per share, with a total value of $74,935.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 260,442 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $60,050,111.94. This trade represents a 0.12% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 5,753 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.63, for a total value of $1,752,536.39. Following the sale, the insider owned 27,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,438,860.26. This represents a 17.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

CME Group Company 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.