Cognios Beta Neutral Large Cap Fund LP Has $524,000 Stock Holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Cognios Beta Neutral Large Cap Fund LP lessened its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 9.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,433 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 241 shares during the quarter. Cognios Beta Neutral Large Cap Fund LP’s holdings in CME Group were worth $524,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of CME. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. grew its position in CME Group by 4.5% during the 1st quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 7,415 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,596,000 after acquiring an additional 318 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE boosted its stake in CME Group by 4.4% during the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 402,285 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $86,608,000 after acquiring an additional 17,102 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in CME Group by 1.1% in the first quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 31,412 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,763,000 after purchasing an additional 346 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Family Office LLC boosted its holdings in CME Group by 21.0% in the first quarter. Fiduciary Family Office LLC now owns 3,096 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $667,000 after acquiring an additional 538 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stonebrook Private Inc. grew its stake in CME Group by 10.7% in the first quarter. Stonebrook Private Inc. now owns 13,134 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,828,000 after acquiring an additional 1,274 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other CME Group news, Director Charles P. Carey sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.44, for a total value of $586,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,163 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,399,936.72. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Director Daniel R. Glickman sold 650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.44, for a total value of $130,936.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 14,008 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,821,771.52. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Charles P. Carey sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.44, for a total value of $586,320.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 7,163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,399,936.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 54,290 shares of company stock valued at $11,393,700 over the last ninety days. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CME traded up $0.36 on Tuesday, hitting $197.37. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,106,489 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,973,544. The company has a market capitalization of $71.07 billion, a PE ratio of 22.45, a PEG ratio of 5.23 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $201.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $207.22. CME Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $184.96 and a 1 year high of $223.80.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.44 by $0.06. CME Group had a net margin of 56.84% and a return on equity of 12.45%. The company had revenue of $1.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.48 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.42 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 9.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th were issued a dividend of $1.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 7th. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.33%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.33%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and set a $210.00 price objective (down from $235.00) on shares of CME Group in a report on Friday, April 5th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of CME Group from $228.00 to $208.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of CME Group from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $206.00 to $187.00 in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Bank of America boosted their target price on CME Group from $209.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $226.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, CME Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $215.82.

CME Group 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.