Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC Sells 2,411 Shares of CME Group Inc. $CME

Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC reduced its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 16.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,951 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,411 shares during the quarter. Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $3,263,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CME. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in CME Group by 34.8% in the 4th quarter. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC now owns 33,532 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,157,000 after purchasing an additional 8,655 shares in the last quarter. Portfolio Design Labs LLC raised its holdings in CME Group by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Portfolio Design Labs LLC now owns 4,557 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,244,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. North Dallas Bank & Trust Co. bought a new position in CME Group in the 4th quarter worth $455,000. Westerkirk Capital Inc. raised its holdings in CME Group by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Westerkirk Capital Inc. now owns 7,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,021,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Waddell & Associates LLC bought a new position in CME Group in the 4th quarter worth $221,000. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CME has been the subject of several research reports. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, June 5th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (a-)” rating on shares of CME Group in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Argus reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of CME Group in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of CME Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Sunday, April 26th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of CME Group from $313.00 to $329.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $305.29.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In other news, General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus sold 3,291 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $333.37, for a total transaction of $1,097,120.67. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel directly owned 7,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,397,597.04. The trade was a 31.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 35,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $298.51, for a total transaction of $10,447,850.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 55,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,606,111.30. This represents a 38.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 44,044 shares of company stock valued at $13,297,507. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

CME Group Stock Up 1.6%

NASDAQ:CME opened at $255.94 on Wednesday. CME Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $244.56 and a 1-year high of $329.16. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $286.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $288.36. The company has a market capitalization of $92.74 billion, a PE ratio of 21.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.36 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.11 by $0.25. CME Group had a net margin of 63.19% and a return on equity of 15.42%. The company had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.77 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.80 EPS. CME Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 12.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 9th will be paid a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 9th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is 44.37%.

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.