Capital Wealth Planning LLC Lowers Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Capital Wealth Planning LLC lessened its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 6.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,393,223 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 99,568 shares during the period. CME Group accounts for approximately 2.9% of Capital Wealth Planning LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding. Capital Wealth Planning LLC owned approximately 0.39% of CME Group worth $273,908,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bluefin Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in CME Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $2,891,000. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp raised its position in CME Group by 81.4% during the first quarter. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp now owns 44,534 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,588,000 after purchasing an additional 19,985 shares in the last quarter. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP raised its position in CME Group by 20.2% during the fourth quarter. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP now owns 523 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $110,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia raised its position in CME Group by 229.4% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 292,597 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $61,618,000 after purchasing an additional 203,769 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oak Harvest Investment Services raised its position in CME Group by 66.5% during the first quarter. Oak Harvest Investment Services now owns 45,093 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,708,000 after purchasing an additional 18,017 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Price Performance

CME stock opened at $216.99 on Monday. CME Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $190.70 and a 52-week high of $223.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $78.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.69, a PEG ratio of 8.85 and a beta of 0.55. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $205.69 and a 200-day moving average price of $207.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.53 by $0.03. CME Group had a net margin of 56.98% and a return on equity of 12.82%. The company had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.53 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.30 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 9.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Investors of record on Monday, September 9th will be issued a $1.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 9th. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.12%. CME Group’s payout ratio is currently 52.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other CME Group news, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 7,593 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.59, for a total value of $1,629,381.87. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 55,607 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,932,706.13. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on CME Group from $187.00 to $191.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on CME Group from $212.00 to $213.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on CME Group from $193.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Barclays raised their target price on CME Group from $208.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Bank of America cut CME Group from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $212.00 to $177.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $209.73.

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.