CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Shares Sold by Avidian Wealth Solutions LLC

Avidian Wealth Solutions LLC cut its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 24.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,681 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 544 shares during the quarter. Avidian Wealth Solutions LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $354,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in CME. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in CME Group by 31.5% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,858,967 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $972,863,000 after buying an additional 1,163,103 shares during the last quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc bought a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $113,772,000. J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $86,424,000. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in CME Group by 31.7% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,605,211 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $321,395,000 after purchasing an additional 386,730 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in CME Group by 6.7% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,465,422 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $693,847,000 after purchasing an additional 217,101 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CME has been the topic of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of CME Group from $198.00 to $206.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of CME Group from $226.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Argus lifted their target price on CME Group from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased 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. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and set a $210.00 price objective (down previously from $235.00) on shares of CME Group in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, CME Group has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $217.80.

CME Group Stock Performance

CME Group stock traded down $0.45 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $207.20. 969,352 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,774,177. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. CME Group Inc. has a one year low of $175.73 and a one year high of $223.80. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $214.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $211.49. The company has a market cap of $74.59 billion, a PE ratio of 23.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.19 and a beta of 0.48.

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

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a dividend of $1.15 per share. This is a boost from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.22%. CME Group’s payout ratio is presently 52.33%.

CME Group 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.