Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC Sells 2,764 Shares of CME Group Inc. $CME

Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC trimmed its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 8.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 29,189 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,764 shares during the period. Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $7,887,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of CME Group by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,307,074 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,539,618,000 after acquiring an additional 130,698 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in CME Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,571,447,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in CME Group by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,812,914 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,300,450,000 after acquiring an additional 130,848 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in CME Group by 6.6% during the second 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 purchasing an additional 238,522 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sanders Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of CME Group in the third quarter worth approximately $1,006,932,000. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CME Group News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting CME Group this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Rothschild & Co Redburn raised its price target on CME to $347 (maintaining a “neutral” rating), implying roughly double-digit upside from recent levels and offering fresh analyst support for the shares. Rothschild Co Redburn adjusts price target on CME to 347 from 333, maintains neutral rating
• Neutral Sentiment: CME’s CEO Terry Duffy publicly warned that U.S. government intervention in oil futures markets would be highly damaging; exchanges including CME have voiced opposition to potential Treasury action. This raises policy/regulatory risk for energy derivatives but also underscores the exchange’s central role in market integrity — a factor that can support trading volumes in energy products if volatility rises. US intervention in oil futures would be ‘biblical disaster’, CME warns CME Group CEO warns against US intervention in oil futures markets US intervention in oil futures market could be disastrous: CME Group
• Neutral Sentiment: Short-interest reporting in recent feeds shows zero or nonsensical values and appears to be a data anomaly rather than a real bearish signal; treat those short-interest items with caution. (Market impact minimal until corrected.)
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: Ken Vroman (Chief Transformation Officer) sold about 5,160 shares (~$1.59M) and SEC filings show multiple recent insider sales across senior staff. While insider sales can be routine, the cadence and size may raise governance/owner-sentiment questions for some investors. CME Group’s Vroman sells $1.59 million in stock Insider Sale: Chief Transformation Officer of $CME Sells 5,160 Shares

CME Group Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of CME stock opened at $311.40 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $112.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 0.24. CME Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $248.53 and a 12-month high of $329.16. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $295.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $279.06.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.77 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.75 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.64 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 14.65% and a net margin of 62.45%.The firm’s revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.52 earnings per share. Equities research 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. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 10th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.59%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on CME. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of CME Group from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Bank of America raised their price target on CME Group from $201.00 to $209.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. Argus reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of CME Group in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on CME Group from $295.00 to $302.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Raymond James Financial dropped their price target on CME Group from $311.00 to $310.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $303.53.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In related news, Director Dennis Suskind sold 748 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $224,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 2,699 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $809,700. This trade represents a 21.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director William R. Shepard purchased 251 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 30th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $278.37 per share, for a total transaction of $69,870.87. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 258,710 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $72,017,102.70. The trade was a 0.10% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 5,248 shares of company stock valued at $1,616,700 over the last quarter. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.