Ensign Peak Advisors Inc Reduces Holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc trimmed its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 10.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 646,010 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 76,300 shares during the quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc owned 0.18% of CME Group worth $127,006,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 3,625 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $782,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 1,160 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $250,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the period. Lantz Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 1.1% during the first quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 4,561 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $982,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the period. Lester Murray Antman dba SimplyRich raised its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Greystone Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Greystone Financial Group LLC now owns 3,282 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $691,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CME Group Trading Down 0.7 %

CME Group stock opened at $213.16 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. CME Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $190.70 and a 12 month high of $223.80. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $207.86 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $207.53. The firm has a market cap of $76.75 billion, a PE ratio of 24.25, a P/E/G ratio of 8.85 and a beta of 0.55.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its earnings results 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 return on equity of 12.82% and a net margin of 56.98%. The firm had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.53 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.30 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 9.94 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be issued a $1.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 9th. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.16%. CME Group’s payout ratio is currently 52.33%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CME has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $193.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of CME Group from $212.00 to $213.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Bank of America cut shares of CME Group from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $212.00 to $177.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $187.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of CME Group from $208.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $209.73.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other CME Group news, CFO Lynne Fitzpatrick sold 754 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Sunday, September 15th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $2,877,504.39. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other CME Group news, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 7,593 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.59, for a total value of $1,629,381.87. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 55,607 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,932,706.13. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Lynne Fitzpatrick sold 754 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Sunday, September 15th. The stock was 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 directly owns 13,261 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,877,504.39. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.