Fifth Third Bancorp Sells 3,570 Shares of CME Group Inc. $CME

Fifth Third Bancorp lessened its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 3.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 96,913 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,570 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in CME Group were worth $26,185,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 1.5% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,176,376 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,695,313,000 after purchasing an additional 532,549 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of CME Group by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,178,681 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,524,271,000 after buying an additional 319,899 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in CME Group in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,571,447,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in CME Group by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,682,066 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,289,910,000 after buying an additional 92,925 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in CME Group by 6.6% during the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,833,090 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,056,476,000 after acquiring an additional 238,522 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Price Performance

CME stock opened at $303.07 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $280.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $274.14. The stock has a market cap of $109.29 billion, a PE ratio of 27.16, a P/E/G ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.27. CME Group Inc. has a one year low of $244.43 and a one year high of $309.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.75 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.64 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 62.45% and a return on equity of 14.65%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.52 EPS. On average, analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be paid a $1.30 dividend. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 10th. CME Group’s payout ratio is currently 44.80%.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other CME Group news, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 25,000 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $269.55, for a total transaction of $6,738,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 65,804 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,737,468.20. This trade represents a 27.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Dennis Suskind sold 748 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $224,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 2,699 shares in the company, valued at approximately $809,700. The trade was a 21.70% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on CME. TD Cowen lifted their price target on CME Group from $305.00 to $328.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on CME Group from $319.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Raymond James Financial decreased their price target on CME Group from $311.00 to $310.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $264.00 to $266.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of CME Group from $312.00 to $316.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, CME Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $299.53.

CME Group Company 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.