CME Group Inc. $CME Shares Sold by Voya Investment Management LLC

Voya Investment Management LLC lowered its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 13.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 122,267 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 18,495 shares during the quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $33,035,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in CME Group by 1.5% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,176,376 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,695,313,000 after buying an additional 532,549 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,178,681 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,524,271,000 after acquiring an additional 319,899 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of CME Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,571,447,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in CME Group by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,682,066 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,289,910,000 after purchasing an additional 92,925 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in CME Group by 6.6% in the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,833,090 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,056,476,000 after purchasing an additional 238,522 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Price Performance

CME stock opened at $269.09 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $272.32 and its two-hundred day moving average is $271.77. CME Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $224.62 and a 52-week high of $290.79. The company has a market capitalization of $97.03 billion, a PE ratio of 26.07, a P/E/G ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.28. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.63 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.56 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 58.84% and a return on equity of 14.61%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.68 earnings per share. Analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be given a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. CME Group’s payout ratio is presently 48.45%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on CME shares. UBS Group reduced their price objective on CME Group from $285.00 to $280.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on CME Group from $312.00 to $314.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on CME Group from $252.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Rothschild & Co Redburn lifted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $297.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reduced their target price on shares of CME Group from $309.00 to $307.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $290.47.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In related news, Director William R. Shepard bought 262 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 25th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $265.19 per share, for a total transaction of $69,479.78. Following the purchase, the director owned 258,459 shares in the company, valued at $68,540,742.21. This trade represents a 0.10% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 25,000 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $269.55, for a total value of $6,738,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 65,804 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,737,468.20. This trade represents a 27.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Profile

CME Group Inc is a global markets company that operates some of the world’s largest and most liquid derivatives exchanges, including the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) and COMEX. The firm offers futures and options contracts across a broad range of asset classes — including interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, energy, agricultural commodities and metals — and serves a diverse client base of institutional investors, commercial hedgers, brokers and retail participants.

The company’s core services include electronic trading on the CME Globex platform, central clearing through CME Clearing, and distribution of market data, indexes and analytics.