Verus Capital Partners LLC Sells 110 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Verus Capital Partners LLC cut its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 1.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,821 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 110 shares during the quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $1,538,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Gold Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new position in CME Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Northwest Financial Advisors acquired a new position in shares of CME Group during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC purchased a new position in CME Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 66.1% during the second quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 196 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of CME Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $41,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Charles P. Carey sold 3,000 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.44, for a total transaction of $586,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 7,163 shares in the company, valued at $1,399,936.72. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other CME Group news, Director Daniel R. Glickman sold 650 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.44, for a total transaction of $130,936.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Charles P. Carey sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.44, for a total transaction of $586,320.00. Following the completion of 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. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME Group stock traded up $1.64 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $215.74. 2,021,100 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,918,714. The stock has a market capitalization of $77.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.54, a P/E/G ratio of 6.51 and a beta of 0.52. The business has a 50-day moving average of $201.36 and a 200-day moving average of $207.38. CME Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $190.70 and a 1 year high of $223.80. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.53 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.53 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 12.82% and a net margin of 56.98%. The business’s revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.30 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 9.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be issued a dividend of $1.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 9th. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.13%. CME Group’s payout ratio is presently 52.33%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on CME Group from $212.00 to $213.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on CME Group from $187.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of CME Group from $208.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of CME Group from $193.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $213.27.

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.