Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. Sells 6,800 Shares of CME Group Inc. $CME

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. reduced its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 14.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 39,960 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 6,800 shares during the quarter. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $10,798,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of Nova Scotia increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 5.4% during the third quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 126,727 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,237,000 after acquiring an additional 6,468 shares in the last quarter. 1248 Management LLC raised its position in shares of CME Group by 26.8% during the third quarter. 1248 Management LLC now owns 180 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 38.6% in the 3rd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,570,658 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $424,376,000 after purchasing an additional 437,552 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in CME Group by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,812,914 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,300,450,000 after purchasing an additional 130,848 shares during the period. Finally, Creative Planning grew its position in CME Group by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 79,593 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $21,505,000 after purchasing an additional 1,859 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting CME Group

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 Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CME 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 cap of $112.29 billion, a PE ratio of 27.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 0.24. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $295.80 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $279.06. CME Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $248.53 and a 1-year high of $329.16.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $1.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.64 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 62.45% and a return on equity of 14.65%. The business’s revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.52 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. This is a boost from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 10th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.59%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 4,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.65, for a total value of $1,300,530.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 43,007 shares in the company, valued at $13,317,117.55. The trade was a 8.90% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director William R. Shepard bought 251 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 purchase, the director directly owned 258,710 shares in the company, valued at approximately $72,017,102.70. The trade was a 0.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 5,248 shares of company stock valued at $1,616,700. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on CME. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of CME Group from $304.00 to $312.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $262.00 to $266.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of CME Group from $305.00 to $328.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $310.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Raymond James Financial dropped their price target on shares of CME Group from $311.00 to $310.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $303.53.

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.