Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Sells 660 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. decreased its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 17.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,179 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 660 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $625,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Gold Investment Management Ltd. bought a new stake in CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC acquired a new position in shares of CME Group in the first quarter valued at $28,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd bought a new position in shares of CME Group in the second quarter valued at about $36,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of CME Group by 66.1% during the 2nd quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 196 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Asset Dedication LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 515.2% during the 2nd quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 203 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 170 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 value of $163,610.46. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 13,261 shares in the company, valued at $2,877,504.39. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, 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 sale, the director now owns 55,607 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,932,706.13. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Lynne Fitzpatrick sold 754 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 13,261 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,877,504.39. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

CME Group Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of CME Group stock opened at $213.16 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $207.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $207.36. The company has a market capitalization of $76.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.25, a PEG ratio of 8.85 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current 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.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.53 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.30 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 9.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 2.16%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 52.33%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on CME shares. Barclays increased their price target on shares of CME Group from $208.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Bank of America downgraded CME Group from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $212.00 to $177.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on CME Group from $212.00 to $213.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of CME Group from $193.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.