CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Shares Sold by Raymond James Trust N.A.

Raymond James Trust N.A. lessened its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 7.2% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 35,747 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,783 shares during the period. Raymond James Trust N.A.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $7,888,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Eagle Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 9.5% during the third quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 91,583 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $20,667,000 after buying an additional 7,960 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in CME Group by 1.4% in the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Banco Santander S.A. lifted its stake in shares of CME Group by 125.2% during the 3rd quarter. Banco Santander S.A. now owns 109,812 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $24,230,000 after purchasing an additional 61,054 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 27.1% during the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 46,508 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,262,000 after purchasing an additional 9,905 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 18.3% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,826,501 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $403,017,000 after purchasing an additional 283,171 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other news, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 7,593 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 55,607 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,932,706.13. This represents a 12.01 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Timothy S. Bitsberger sold 1,000 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.96, for a total value of $226,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 10,589 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,403,279.44. This trade represents a 8.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 15,621 shares of company stock valued at $3,441,063. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on CME. Redburn Atlantic downgraded CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $244.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of CME Group from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $187.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Bank of America lifted 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, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $224.47.

CME Group Stock Down 0.5 %

NASDAQ CME opened at $226.96 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $190.70 and a fifty-two week high of $230.74. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $223.40 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $210.92. The stock has a market cap of $81.79 billion, a PE ratio of 23.87, a P/E/G ratio of 5.30 and a beta of 0.55.

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

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 dividend of $1.15 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.03%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.37%.

CME Group 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.