CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC Sells 1,374 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC lowered its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 24.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 4,265 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,374 shares during the quarter. CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $941,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in CME Group by 11.3% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,283,196 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,038,676,000 after purchasing an additional 537,758 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 3.2% during the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 3,029,145 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $595,530,000 after acquiring an additional 94,302 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 6.6% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,835,075 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $557,371,000 after acquiring an additional 176,004 shares in the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 137.6% during the second quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,260,644 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $444,443,000 after acquiring an additional 1,309,097 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 1.4% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,981,961 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $437,320,000 after acquiring an additional 26,642 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In related news, CFO Lynne Fitzpatrick sold 754 shares of the stock in a transaction on Sunday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.99, for a total transaction of $163,610.46. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 13,261 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,877,504.39. This trade represents a 5.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 7,593 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now directly owns 55,607 shares in the company, valued at $11,932,706.13. This trade represents a 12.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 15,621 shares of company stock valued at $3,441,063 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Trading Up 1.1 %

NASDAQ CME opened at $229.04 on Friday. CME Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $190.70 and a 12 month high of $230.74. The stock has a market cap of $82.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.08, a P/E/G ratio of 5.30 and a beta of 0.55. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $223.64 and its 200-day moving average price is $211.07. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.65 by $0.03. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.39% and a net margin of 57.34%. The firm had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.59 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.25 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be paid a $1.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.01%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.37%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Citigroup upped their target price on CME Group from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Redburn Atlantic downgraded CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $244.00 target price for the company. in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Barclays upped their target price on CME Group from $219.00 to $231.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price target on CME Group from $245.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, CME Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $224.47.

CME Group Company 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.