UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC Sells 97,324 Shares of CME Group Inc. $CME

UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lessened its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 3.5% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,700,938 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 97,324 shares during the quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $596,448,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC raised its holdings in CME Group by 2,075.0% in the first quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Elkhorn Partners Limited Partnership purchased a new position in CME Group during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID grew its position in shares of CME Group by 191.9% in the 4th quarter. Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID now owns 108 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of CME Group stock opened at $285.80 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $102.77 billion, a PE ratio of 24.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 0.23. CME Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $218.31 and a 52-week high of $329.16. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $253.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $278.93.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.91 by $0.08. CME Group had a net margin of 63.30% and a return on equity of 15.60%. The firm had revenue of $1.71 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.68 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.96 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 12.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 9th will be given a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 9th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is 44.11%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CME has been the subject of several research reports. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $320.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of CME Group from $226.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of CME Group from $310.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Rothschild & Co Redburn upgraded shares of CME Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $316.00 to $323.00 in a report on Thursday, June 11th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $286.00 to $270.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $288.56.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other CME Group news, Director William R. Shepard bought 325 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 25th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $230.57 per share, for a total transaction of $74,935.25. Following the purchase, the director owned 260,442 shares in the company, valued at approximately $60,050,111.94. This trade represents a 0.12% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.