Seilern Investment Management Ltd Trims Stock Holdings in CME Group Inc. $CME

Seilern Investment Management Ltd lowered its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 47.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,370 shares during the period. CME Group accounts for approximately 0.1% of Seilern Investment Management Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. Seilern Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in CME Group were worth $839,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CME. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,895,583 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,802,366,000 after buying an additional 588,509 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of CME Group by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,144,525 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,408,747,000 after buying an additional 56,725 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in CME Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,523,241,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in CME Group by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,924,475 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,344,776,000 after acquiring an additional 134,242 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. grew its stake in CME Group by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 4,319,763 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,179,858,000 after acquiring an additional 222,890 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Trading Down 0.2%

CME stock opened at $263.66 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The company has a market cap of $94.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.36, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.23. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $249.24 and a 200-day simple moving average of $280.78. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $218.31 and a 52 week high of $329.16.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.99 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.91 by $0.08. CME Group had a return on equity of 15.60% and a net margin of 63.30%.The firm had revenue of $1.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.68 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.96 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 12.27 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 9th will be issued a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 9th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.11%.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In other CME Group news, Director William R. Shepard acquired 325 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 25th. The stock was bought at an average price of $230.57 per share, with a total value of $74,935.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 260,442 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $60,050,111.94. The trade was a 0.12% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 35,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.51, for a total transaction of $10,447,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 55,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,606,111.30. The trade was a 38.62% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded CME Group from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 1st. Erste Group Bank downgraded CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on CME Group from $329.00 to $295.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of CME Group from $324.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $320.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $291.81.

CME Group Company 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.