Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC Cuts Holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC reduced its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 56,609 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,378 shares during the quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $11,130,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Capital International Investors raised its position in CME Group by 24.1% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 15,809,175 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,403,557,000 after purchasing an additional 3,069,806 shares during the period. PineStone Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of CME Group by 137.6% during the second quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,260,644 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $444,443,000 after acquiring an additional 1,309,097 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its stake in shares of CME Group by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 14,589,867 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,072,654,000 after acquiring an additional 1,172,575 shares in the last quarter. M&G Plc acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group during the first quarter valued at about $156,631,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of CME Group by 577.9% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 645,330 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $126,872,000 after acquiring an additional 550,133 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME stock opened at $213.16 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The business has a 50 day moving average of $207.86 and a two-hundred day moving average of $207.36. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $190.70 and a 52 week high of $223.80. The company has a market cap of $76.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.25, a PEG ratio of 8.85 and a beta of 0.55.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.53 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.53 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 12.82% and a net margin of 56.98%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.30 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 9.94 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.16%. CME Group’s payout ratio is 52.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 7,593 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $11,932,706.13. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other CME Group news, CFO Lynne Fitzpatrick sold 754 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Sunday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.99, for a total transaction of $163,610.46. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 13,261 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,877,504.39. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 7,593 shares of the business’s 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 $11,932,706.13. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CME has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on CME Group from $193.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on CME Group from $212.00 to $213.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on CME Group from $187.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Bank of America downgraded CME Group from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $212.00 to $177.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $209.73.

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.