Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. Sells 1,119,030 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 66.1% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 574,769 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,119,030 shares during the period. CME Group makes up approximately 1.3% of Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest position. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $126,823,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Y.D. More Investments Ltd bought a new stake in CME Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. raised its stake in CME Group by 62.2% in the 3rd quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 193 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the period. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in CME Group by 66.1% during the 2nd quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 196 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Asset Dedication LLC increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 515.2% in the second quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 203 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New Covenant Trust Company N.A. acquired a new position in shares of CME Group in the first quarter valued at $82,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of CME Group from $219.00 to $231.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $195.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $235.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $245.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $224.47.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME Group stock opened at $229.04 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $223.64 and a 200-day moving average of $211.07. CME Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $190.70 and a 1-year high of $230.74. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The company has a market cap of $82.54 billion, a PE ratio of 24.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.23 and a beta of 0.55.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.25 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be paid a $1.15 dividend. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. CME Group’s payout ratio is 48.37%.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In other news, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 7,593 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $11,932,706.13. The trade was a 12.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Lynne Fitzpatrick sold 754 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on 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. This trade represents a 5.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 15,621 shares of company stock valued at $3,441,063 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.