CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Stake Reduced by Van ECK Associates Corp

Van ECK Associates Corp cut its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 12.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 84,345 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 12,176 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in CME Group were worth $17,763,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Naples Global Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Naples Global Advisors LLC now owns 2,072 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $436,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the period. Sapient Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of CME Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,823,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of CME Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,074,000. Deutsche Bank AG grew its holdings in CME Group by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,118,104 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $223,867,000 after buying an additional 46,021 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,986,000. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

CME Group Stock Down 0.7 %

CME stock opened at $208.07 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $74.90 billion, a PE ratio of 23.67, a P/E/G ratio of 5.24 and a beta of 0.49. CME Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $175.73 and a 12 month high of $223.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $214.51 and a 200 day simple moving average of $211.67.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.44 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $1.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.48 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 12.45% and a net margin of 56.84%. The firm’s revenue was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.42 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 9.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were given a $1.15 dividend. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.10. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.21%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.33%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on CME. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on CME Group from $222.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of CME Group from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $195.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Argus raised their target price on shares of CME Group from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of CME Group from $198.00 to $206.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $209.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, CME Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $217.80.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other CME Group news, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.91, for a total transaction of $8,436,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 67,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,226,934.05. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

CME Group Company Profile

CME Group Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates contract markets for the trading of futures and options on futures contracts worldwide. It offers futures and options products based on interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, agricultural commodities, energy, and metals, as well as fixed income and foreign currency trading services.