First Horizon Advisors Inc. Reduces Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

First Horizon Advisors Inc. lowered its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 5.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,206 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 273 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $1,149,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CME. CreativeOne Wealth LLC purchased a new position in CME Group during the first quarter worth about $315,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its stake in shares of CME Group by 75.7% during the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 547,913 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $117,960,000 after buying an additional 236,017 shares during the period. Keeley Teton Advisors LLC grew its position in CME Group by 93.6% during the first quarter. Keeley Teton Advisors LLC now owns 2,275 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $490,000 after acquiring an additional 1,100 shares during the period. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in CME Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $100,000. Finally, Epoch Investment Partners Inc. increased its position in shares of CME Group by 4.7% in the first quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 99,947 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $21,518,000 after acquiring an additional 4,454 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Trading Down 0.5 %

CME Group stock opened at $226.96 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $81.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.30 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $223.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $210.92. CME Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $190.70 and a 1 year high of $230.74.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.65 by $0.03. CME Group had a net margin of 57.34% and a return on equity of 13.39%. The company had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.59 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.25 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued a $1.15 dividend. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other CME Group news, CFO Lynne Fitzpatrick sold 754 shares of CME Group 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 directly owns 13,261 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,877,504.39. The trade was a 5.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 7,593 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 55,607 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,932,706.13. This represents a 12.01 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 15,621 shares of company stock worth $3,441,063 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on CME. TD Cowen started coverage on CME Group in a report on Thursday, September 26th. They set a “hold” rating and a $221.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of CME Group from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $244.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on CME Group from $212.00 to $213.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of CME Group from $219.00 to $231.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, CME Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $224.47.

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.