Symphony Financial Ltd. Co. Has $204,000 Stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Symphony Financial Ltd. Co. cut its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 76.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 949 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,054 shares during the quarter. Symphony Financial Ltd. Co.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $204,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of CME Group during the fourth quarter worth about $959,260,000. Capital Wealth Planning LLC bought a new position in CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $253,563,000. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in CME Group by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 14,589,867 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,072,654,000 after buying an additional 1,172,575 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in CME Group by 31.5% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,858,967 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $972,863,000 after buying an additional 1,163,103 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc bought a new position in CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $113,772,000. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 40,000 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.91, for a total value of $8,436,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 67,455 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,226,934.05. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Daniel R. Glickman sold 650 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.44, for a total value of $130,936.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 14,008 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,821,771.52. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 40,000 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.91, for a total transaction of $8,436,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 67,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,226,934.05. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 54,290 shares of company stock worth $11,393,700 in the last quarter. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

CME Group Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:CME traded up $1.07 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $196.60. The company had a trading volume of 6,618,079 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,263,889. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $205.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $208.61. The company has a market capitalization of $70.79 billion, a PE ratio of 22.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.16 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. CME Group Inc. has a one year low of $180.11 and a one year high of $223.80.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.44 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $1.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.48 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 56.84% and a return on equity of 12.45%. CME Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.42 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 9.75 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th were paid a $1.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 7th. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.34%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.33%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on CME. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $222.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $226.00 to $228.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and set a $210.00 price target (down previously from $235.00) on shares of CME Group in a report on Friday, April 5th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of CME Group from $209.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Argus raised their price target on shares of CME Group from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $215.90.

About CME Group

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.