Capital International Ltd. CA Sells 7,580 Shares of CME Group Inc. $CME

Capital International Ltd. CA cut its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 16.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 39,134 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 7,580 shares during the period. Capital International Ltd. CA’s holdings in CME Group were worth $10,574,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in CME Group in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,571,447,000. Strive Asset Management LLC bought a new position in CME Group during the third quarter worth $636,487,000. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. increased its position in CME Group by 107.2% during the third quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,502,752 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $406,029,000 after acquiring an additional 777,571 shares during the period. Viking Global Investors LP acquired a new position in CME Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $164,648,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in CME Group by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,176,376 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,695,313,000 after purchasing an additional 532,549 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 4,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.65, for a total transaction of $1,300,530.00. Following the sale, the director owned 43,007 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,317,117.55. This represents a 8.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Dennis Suskind sold 748 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $224,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 2,699 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $809,700. This represents a 21.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders sold 30,248 shares of company stock worth $8,355,450. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of CME Group from $305.00 to $328.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Barclays lifted their target price on CME Group from $304.00 to $312.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Rothschild & Co Redburn upped their price target on CME Group from $300.00 to $333.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Weiss Ratings upgraded CME Group from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their target price on CME Group from $296.00 to $313.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $302.71.

CME Group Stock Performance

CME Group stock opened at $319.09 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $115.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.59, a P/E/G ratio of 3.69 and a beta of 0.24. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $292.99 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $278.00. CME Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $248.53 and a 52-week high of $329.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03.

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

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This is a boost from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 10th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.80%.

About CME Group

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.