Chesley Taft & Associates LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Chesley Taft & Associates LLC reduced its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 12.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,483 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 212 shares during the period. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $327,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CME. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of CME Group by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 3,625 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $782,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its holdings in CME Group by 4.3% in the first quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 1,160 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $250,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. Lantz Financial LLC increased its position in shares of CME Group by 1.1% in 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 in the last quarter. Lester Murray Antman dba SimplyRich raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Lester Murray Antman dba SimplyRich now owns 7,667 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,507,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, Essex LLC lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. Essex LLC now owns 1,649 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $355,000 after buying an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 7,593 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.59, for a total value of $1,629,381.87. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 55,607 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,932,706.13. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Lynne Fitzpatrick sold 754 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 13,261 shares in the company, valued at $2,877,504.39. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 7,593 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 $11,932,706.13. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CME has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of CME Group from $195.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $212.00 to $213.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of CME Group from $209.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday. Citigroup boosted their price objective on CME Group from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their target price on CME Group from $225.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $217.71.

CME Group Stock Performance

CME Group stock opened at $221.68 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $212.63 and a 200-day simple moving average of $207.68. The stock has a market cap of $79.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.74 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. CME Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $190.70 and a 1-year high of $226.78.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its 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 return on equity of 12.82% and a net margin of 56.98%. The company had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.53 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.30 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 9.94 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 9th were given a $1.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 9th. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.08%. CME Group’s payout ratio is currently 52.33%.

CME Group Company 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.