CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Shares Sold by Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA reduced its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 47.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,543,330 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,379,185 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned approximately 0.43% of CME Group worth $303,419,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Gold Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC acquired a new position in shares of CME Group during the first quarter worth about $28,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd acquired a new position in shares of CME Group during the second quarter worth about $36,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. grew its position 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 buying an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Asset Dedication LLC grew its position in shares of CME Group by 515.2% during the second quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 203 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other news, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 7,593 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.59, for a total transaction of $1,629,381.87. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 55,607 shares in the company, valued at $11,932,706.13. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CME opened at $218.53 on Tuesday. 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 Inc. has a twelve month low of $190.70 and a twelve month high of $223.80. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $206.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $207.48. The stock has a market cap of $78.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.86, a P/E/G ratio of 8.85 and a beta of 0.55.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.56 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.53 by $0.03. CME Group had a return on equity of 12.82% and a net margin of 56.98%. The business had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.53 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.30 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 9.94 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be paid a dividend of $1.15 per share. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 9th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.33%.

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.