First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. Lowers Position in CME Group Inc. $CME

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. lessened its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 7.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 48,123 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,707 shares during the period. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $13,002,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CME. Amundi boosted its holdings in CME Group by 24.0% in the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 1,987,347 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $548,150,000 after buying an additional 385,225 shares during the period. Alley Investment Management Company LLC raised its holdings in CME Group by 86.0% during the third quarter. Alley Investment Management Company LLC now owns 29,223 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,896,000 after acquiring an additional 13,512 shares during the period. Elevate Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 85.2% in the third quarter. Elevate Capital Advisors LLC now owns 8,519 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,302,000 after acquiring an additional 3,919 shares in the last quarter. Victory Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 310.2% in the second quarter. Victory Financial Group LLC now owns 3,044 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $839,000 after acquiring an additional 2,302 shares during the period. Finally, Chicago Capital LLC grew its position in shares of CME Group by 583.8% during the third quarter. Chicago Capital LLC now owns 13,327 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,601,000 after purchasing an additional 11,378 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Price Performance

CME stock opened at $282.73 on Friday. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $232.32 and a 52 week high of $290.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $101.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.27. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $274.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $271.95. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.63 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.54 billion for 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%. The business’s revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.68 EPS. Analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 12th were paid a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 12th. 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 business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $263.53, for a total transaction of $263,530.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 1,091 shares in the company, valued at $287,511.23. The trade was a 47.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director William R. Shepard bought 251 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 30th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $278.37 per share, for a total transaction of $69,870.87. Following the purchase, the director owned 258,710 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $72,017,102.70. This trade represents a 0.10% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on CME. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of CME Group in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of CME Group from $280.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of CME Group from $304.00 to $302.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Raymond James Financial lifted their price target on shares of CME Group from $307.00 to $311.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $282.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, December 5th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $292.18.

CME Group 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.