Northcape Capital Pty Ltd Lowers Holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Northcape Capital Pty Ltd reduced its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 14.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 13,504 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,204 shares during the period. CME Group makes up 0.4% of Northcape Capital Pty Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Northcape Capital Pty Ltd’s holdings in CME Group were worth $2,980,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CME. CVA Family Office LLC boosted its stake in CME Group by 11.8% in the third quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 436 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $96,000 after buying an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 51.3% in the 3rd quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,359 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $741,000 after purchasing an additional 1,139 shares in the last quarter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 13.4% during the 3rd quarter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA now owns 2,602 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $574,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares during the last quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel raised its position in CME Group by 10.0% in the 3rd quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 10,514 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,320,000 after purchasing an additional 957 shares during the period. Finally, HCR Wealth Advisors lifted its stake in CME Group by 1.4% in the third quarter. HCR Wealth Advisors now owns 10,259 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,264,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Lynne Fitzpatrick sold 754 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Sunday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.99, for a total value of $163,610.46. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 13,261 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,877,504.39. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 7,593 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now owns 55,607 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,932,706.13. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Lynne Fitzpatrick sold 754 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Sunday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.99, for a total transaction of $163,610.46. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 13,261 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,877,504.39. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on CME shares. 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. Barclays lifted their price target on CME Group from $209.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. 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. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $177.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on shares of CME Group from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $217.71.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of CME Group stock traded up $0.47 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $221.72. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,123,088 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,954,162. The company has a market cap of $79.83 billion, a PE ratio of 25.22, a PEG ratio of 7.76 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $214.61 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $207.93. CME Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $190.70 and a 12-month high of $226.78.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.53 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.30 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Investors of record on Monday, September 9th were issued a $1.15 dividend. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 9th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.33%.

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.