Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH Cuts Stock Holdings in CME Group Inc. $CME

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH trimmed its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 381,387 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 17,356 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH owned approximately 0.11% of CME Group worth $103,047,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CME. Demars Financial Group LLC grew its position in CME Group by 17.4% in the 3rd quarter. Demars Financial Group LLC now owns 3,036 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $820,000 after acquiring an additional 451 shares during the last quarter. Scissortail Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 1.4% during the third quarter. Scissortail Wealth Management LLC now owns 22,012 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,947,000 after buying an additional 311 shares during the last quarter. Grey Fox Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in CME Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $121,000. Triasima Portfolio Management inc. purchased a new stake in CME Group in the third quarter valued at about $668,000. Finally, Inscription Capital LLC raised its position in shares of CME Group by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Inscription Capital LLC now owns 2,040 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $551,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Price Performance

CME stock opened at $279.91 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $274.27 and its 200 day moving average price is $271.85. CME Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $230.19 and a 12-month high of $290.79. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The company has a market capitalization of $100.94 billion, a PE ratio of 27.12, a P/E/G ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.27.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share (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%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.68 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 12th were issued a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 12th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is 48.45%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on CME. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on CME Group from $304.00 to $302.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of CME Group from $201.00 to $209.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. TD Cowen raised shares of CME Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $290.00 to $305.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on CME Group from $282.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of CME Group from $320.00 to $319.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $291.82.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 25,000 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $269.55, for a total transaction of $6,738,750.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 65,804 shares in the company, valued at $17,737,468.20. This trade represents a 27.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director William R. Shepard bought 251 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 30th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $278.37 per share, with a total value of $69,870.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 258,710 shares in the company, valued at approximately $72,017,102.70. This trade represents a 0.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.