Rhumbline Advisers Sells 36,500 Shares of CME Group Inc. $CME

Rhumbline Advisers decreased its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 667,365 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 36,500 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers owned 0.19% of CME Group worth $180,315,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Caldwell Trust Co lifted its position in CME Group by 116.3% during the third quarter. Caldwell Trust Co now owns 93 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA bought a new stake in CME Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Financial Consulate Inc. acquired a new stake in CME Group during the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. Sagard Holdings Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Corundum Trust Company INC acquired a new position in shares of CME Group during the third quarter valued at about $30,000. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

CME Group Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of CME opened at $306.76 on Wednesday. CME Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $239.70 and a 1-year high of $309.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $278.05 and its 200-day moving average price is $273.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $110.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.49, a PEG ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.27.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.77 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.75 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.64 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 14.65% and a net margin of 62.45%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.52 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on CME shares. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised 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. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on CME Group from $319.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of CME Group from $305.00 to $328.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $310.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a report on Friday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on CME Group from $262.00 to $266.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $297.59.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In related news, Director William R. Shepard bought 251 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 30th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $278.37 per share, for a total transaction of $69,870.87. Following the purchase, the director owned 258,710 shares in the company, valued at approximately $72,017,102.70. This represents a 0.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 25,000 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 65,804 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,737,468.20. The trade was a 27.53% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company 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.