Principal Financial Group Inc. Lowers Position in CME Group Inc. $CME

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 410,353 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,791 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $110,873,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Amundi lifted its holdings in CME Group by 24.0% in the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 1,987,347 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $548,150,000 after purchasing an additional 385,225 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 8.9% during the third quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 70,712 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $19,106,000 after buying an additional 5,773 shares in the last quarter. Alley Investment Management Company LLC raised its position in shares of CME Group by 86.0% in the third quarter. Alley Investment Management Company LLC now owns 29,223 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,896,000 after buying an additional 13,512 shares during the last quarter. Elevate Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of CME Group by 85.2% in the third quarter. Elevate Capital Advisors LLC now owns 8,519 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,302,000 after buying an additional 3,919 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of CME Group by 310.2% in the second quarter. Victory Financial Group LLC now owns 3,044 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $839,000 after buying an additional 2,302 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of CME Group from $320.00 to $319.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on CME Group from $265.00 to $264.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on CME Group from $256.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Bank of America boosted their price objective on CME Group from $201.00 to $209.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of CME Group in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $292.18.

CME Group Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of CME Group stock opened at $290.77 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $275.56 and a 200 day moving average of $272.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $104.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.18, a PEG ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.27. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $238.12 and a fifty-two week high of $293.78.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 12th were given a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 12th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.45%.

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.