The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Reduces Stock Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company cut its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 1.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 229,057 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,446 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in CME Group were worth $50,541,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in CME Group by 0.6% in the third quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 7,810 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,723,000 after buying an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC increased its holdings 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 valued at $96,000 after buying an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Lester Murray Antman dba SimplyRich increased its holdings in CME Group by 0.7% in the second quarter. Lester Murray Antman dba SimplyRich now owns 7,667 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,507,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. increased its holdings in CME Group by 3.7% in the third quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 1,530 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $338,000 after buying an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quent Capital LLC increased its holdings in CME Group by 10.2% in the third quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 593 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $131,000 after buying an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other news, CFO Lynne Fitzpatrick sold 754 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Sunday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.99, for a total value of $163,610.46. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 13,261 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,877,504.39. This trade represents a 5.38 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Sunil Cutinho sold 4,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.64, for a total transaction of $1,019,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 27,053 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,131,291.92. This represents a 14.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 8,028 shares of company stock worth $1,811,681 in the last quarter. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

CME Group Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of CME opened at $237.33 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $85.52 billion, a PE ratio of 24.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.29 and a beta of 0.55. The company’s fifty day moving average is $225.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $211.73. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $190.70 and a fifty-two week high of $238.12. 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 (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.65 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 57.34% and a return on equity of 13.39%. CME Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.25 EPS. Analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.22 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued a $1.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.94%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.37%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $235.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on shares of CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $245.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $219.00 to $231.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $224.47.

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.