CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Shares Sold by Skylands Capital LLC

Skylands Capital LLC decreased its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 5.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,250 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 500 shares during the quarter. Skylands Capital LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $1,948,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in CME Group by 31.5% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,858,967 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $972,863,000 after acquiring an additional 1,163,103 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,029,771 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $806,841,000 after purchasing an additional 70,588 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in CME Group by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,668,138 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $734,435,000 after purchasing an additional 172,264 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in CME Group by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,579,057 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $716,604,000 after buying an additional 125,263 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in CME Group by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,465,422 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $693,847,000 after buying an additional 217,101 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

CME Group Price Performance

CME stock traded down $0.67 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $210.27. 564,186 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,772,950. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $214.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $211.83. The company has a market cap of $75.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.00, a P/E/G ratio of 5.27 and a beta of 0.49. CME Group Inc. has a one year low of $175.73 and a one year high of $223.80. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.44 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $1.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.48 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 56.84% and a return on equity of 12.45%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.42 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 9.72 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were given a $1.15 dividend. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.10. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.19%. CME Group’s payout ratio is 52.33%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on CME. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of CME Group from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $195.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on CME Group from $198.00 to $206.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Bank of America lifted their target price on CME Group from $209.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $187.00 price target (up previously from $185.00) on shares of CME Group in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $226.00 to $228.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $217.80.

CME Group Company Profile

CME Group Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates contract markets for the trading of futures and options on futures contracts worldwide. It offers futures and options products based on interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, agricultural commodities, energy, and metals, as well as fixed income and foreign currency trading services.