Yousif Capital Management LLC Sells 3,006 Shares of CME Group Inc. $CME

Yousif Capital Management LLC cut its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 46,556 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,006 shares during the quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $12,579,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in CME. Webster Bank N. A. lifted its stake in CME Group by 206.9% during the second quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 89 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 84.3% during the 2nd quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 94 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Sagard Holdings Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of CME Group during the 2nd quarter worth $30,000. Ransom Advisory Ltd bought a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 1st quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in CME Group by 59.2% in the second quarter. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC now owns 113 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Trading Up 0.9%

CME opened at $275.53 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $224.62 and a fifty-two week high of $290.79. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $272.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $271.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $99.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.70, a PEG ratio of 3.68 and a beta of 0.28.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.63 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.56 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 58.84% and a return on equity of 14.61%. CME Group’s revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.68 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be given a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. CME Group’s payout ratio is 48.45%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Rothschild & Co Redburn boosted their target price on CME Group from $297.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of CME Group from $288.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $310.00 to $318.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of CME Group from $313.00 to $304.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $314.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $290.82.

Insider Activity

In other CME Group news, Director Harold Eugene Jr. Ford sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $263.53, for a total transaction of $263,530.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 1,091 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $287,511.23. This represents a 47.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director William R. Shepard purchased 262 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 25th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $265.19 per share, for a total transaction of $69,479.78. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 258,459 shares in the company, valued at approximately $68,540,742.21. This trade represents a 0.10% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

About CME Group

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.