AdvisorNet Financial Inc Sells 2,829 Shares of CME Group Inc. $CME

AdvisorNet Financial Inc lowered its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 19.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 11,430 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,829 shares during the period. AdvisorNet Financial Inc’s holdings in CME Group were worth $3,088,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CME. Webster Bank N. A. lifted its position in CME Group by 206.9% during the second quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 89 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Highline Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in CME Group by 84.3% in the 2nd quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 94 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Sagard Holdings Management Inc. purchased a new stake in CME Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Ransom Advisory Ltd purchased a new stake in CME Group during the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 59.2% during the 2nd quarter. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC now owns 113 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on CME. Argus cut their price objective on CME Group from $308.00 to $295.00 in a report on Friday, October 31st. Raymond James Financial dropped their target price on CME Group from $309.00 to $307.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Bank of America boosted their price target on CME Group from $201.00 to $209.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of CME Group from $313.00 to $304.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $252.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $290.47.

CME Group Trading Up 1.2%

CME Group stock opened at $269.09 on Friday. CME Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $224.62 and a 1 year high of $290.79. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $272.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $271.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market cap of $97.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.07, a PEG ratio of 3.97 and a beta of 0.28.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.63 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.56 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 58.84% and a return on equity of 14.61%. CME Group’s quarterly revenue was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.68 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be given a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.45%.

Insider Activity

In other CME Group news, Director Harold Eugene Jr. Ford sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $263.53, for a total transaction of $263,530.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 1,091 shares in the company, valued at $287,511.23. This trade represents a 47.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director William R. Shepard acquired 262 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 25th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $265.19 per share, for a total transaction of $69,479.78. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 258,459 shares in the company, valued at approximately $68,540,742.21. This represents a 0.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.