CME Group Inc. $CME Shares Sold by CORDA Investment Management LLC.

CORDA Investment Management LLC. cut its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 1.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 218,470 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,464 shares during the period. CME Group accounts for 4.2% of CORDA Investment Management LLC.’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest position. CORDA Investment Management LLC. owned about 0.06% of CME Group worth $59,028,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CME. Webster Bank N. A. boosted its position in CME Group by 206.9% in the 2nd quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 89 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. Caldwell Trust Co grew its position in CME Group by 116.3% during the third quarter. Caldwell Trust Co now owns 93 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Highline Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake 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 valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Financial Consulate Inc. acquired a new position in shares of CME Group during the 3rd quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Sagard Holdings Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CME Group Stock Down 1.6%

CME stock opened at $262.45 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $94.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.43, a PEG ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.27. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $225.46 and a fifty-two week high of $290.79. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $273.95 and a 200-day moving average of $271.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.63 by $0.05. CME Group had a net margin of 58.84% and a return on equity of 14.61%. The company had revenue of $1.54 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.56 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.68 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 12th were given a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 12th. CME Group’s payout ratio is presently 48.45%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Harold Eugene Jr. Ford sold 1,000 shares of the company’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 value of $263,530.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 1,091 shares in the company, valued at $287,511.23. This represents a 47.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 25,000 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $269.55, for a total transaction of $6,738,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 65,804 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,737,468.20. This represents a 27.53% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on CME shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on CME Group from $283.00 to $287.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Argus lowered their target price on CME Group from $308.00 to $295.00 in a report on Friday, October 31st. TD Cowen raised their price objective on CME Group from $288.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on CME Group from $310.00 to $318.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on CME Group from $264.00 to $263.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, CME Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $291.06.

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.