CME Group Inc. $CME Position Lessened by Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lowered its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 46.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,147 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,840 shares during the quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $586,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of CME. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in shares of CME Group by 11.5% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 10,027 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,660,000 after buying an additional 1,037 shares in the last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. raised its position in CME Group by 26.7% during the second quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,319 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $915,000 after acquiring an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. acquired a new stake in CME Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $965,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in CME Group by 18.9% in the second quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 976 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $269,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in CME Group in the second quarter worth approximately $1,184,000. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus sold 3,291 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $333.37, for a total transaction of $1,097,120.67. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel owned 7,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,397,597.04. The trade was a 31.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 4,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.65, for a total value of $1,300,530.00. Following the sale, the director owned 43,007 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,317,117.55. The trade was a 8.90% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 8,539 shares of company stock valued at $2,713,821 over the last three months. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of CME Group from $305.00 to $328.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of CME Group from $266.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, March 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of CME Group from $312.00 to $316.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on CME Group from $262.00 to $266.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on CME Group from $302.00 to $356.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $304.06.

CME Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CME opened at $305.11 on Friday. CME Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $248.53 and a 12 month high of $329.16. The firm has a market cap of $109.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.34, a P/E/G ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.26. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The company’s 50 day moving average is $304.71 and its 200-day moving average is $283.10.

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 the consensus estimate of $2.75 by $0.02. CME Group had a net margin of 62.45% and a return on equity of 14.65%. The business had revenue of $1.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.52 EPS. CME Group’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 10th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.59%.

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.