CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Shares Sold by Pacer Advisors Inc.

Pacer Advisors Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 2.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 36,603 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 858 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $7,196,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Gold Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in CME Group during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 1st quarter worth $28,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 2nd quarter worth $36,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of CME Group by 66.1% in the 2nd quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 196 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the period. Finally, Asset Dedication LLC lifted its stake in shares of CME Group by 515.2% in the 2nd quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 203 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CME opened at $215.86 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $208.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $207.38. CME Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $190.70 and a twelve month high of $223.80. The company has a market capitalization of $77.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.85 and a beta of 0.55.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.53 by $0.03. CME Group had a net margin of 56.98% and a return on equity of 12.82%. The firm had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.53 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.30 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 9.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be issued a dividend of $1.15 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 9th. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.13%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.33%.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other news, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 7,593 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 55,607 shares in the company, valued at $11,932,706.13. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 7,593 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 55,607 shares in the company, valued at $11,932,706.13. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Lynne Fitzpatrick sold 754 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 13,261 shares in the company, valued at $2,877,504.39. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays raised their target price on shares of CME Group from $208.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price 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. Bank of America cut shares of CME Group from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $212.00 to $177.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of CME Group from $212.00 to $213.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of CME Group from $193.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $209.73.

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.