Hilltop Holdings Inc. Sells 7,404 Shares of CME Group Inc. $CME

Hilltop Holdings Inc. cut its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 54.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,133 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 7,404 shares during the period. Hilltop Holdings Inc.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $1,811,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in CME Group by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,895,583 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,802,366,000 after buying an additional 588,509 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of CME Group by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,144,525 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,408,747,000 after buying an additional 56,725 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of CME Group during the 4th quarter worth about $1,523,241,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,924,475 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,344,776,000 after acquiring an additional 134,242 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 4,319,763 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,179,858,000 after acquiring an additional 222,890 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of CME Group from $329.00 to $295.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of CME Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Sunday, July 12th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of CME Group from $310.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 6th. Erste Group Bank cut shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of CME Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, CME Group has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $291.81.

Key Stories Impacting CME Group

Here are the key news stories impacting CME Group this week:

• Positive Sentiment: CME Group’s Q2 results topped expectations, and the stock was reported higher on the earnings beat. US Stock Market: CME shares jump 6% after Q2 profit beats estimates; strong hedging demand boosts results
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts noted strong fundamentals and at least one rating upgrade following the earnings release, which can support investor confidence. CME Group: Q2 Earnings Results Lead To A Rating Upgrade
• Neutral Sentiment: UBS reiterated a Hold rating and kept its $260 target, signaling solid fundamentals but limited upside at current valuation. Neutral Stance Reiterated on CME as Solid Fundamentals Meet Valuation Limits; $260 Price Target Maintained
• Negative Sentiment: Bank of America and JPMorgan both maintained bearish/underweight views, even though they slightly raised price targets, highlighting ongoing caution about upside. Analyst price target updates
• Negative Sentiment: Short-interest data showed no meaningful short position, so this headline is unlikely to be a real stock driver and does not change the core thesis.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 5,753 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.63, for a total transaction of $1,752,536.39. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 27,702 shares in the company, valued at $8,438,860.26. This trade represents a 17.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 35,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $298.51, for a total transaction of $10,447,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 55,630 shares in the company, valued at $16,606,111.30. This represents a 38.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Trading Up 0.4%

NASDAQ:CME opened at $255.31 on Friday. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $218.31 and a fifty-two week high of $329.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $92.51 billion, a PE ratio of 21.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.25. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $254.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $281.22.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.91 by $0.08. CME Group had a return on equity of 15.60% and a net margin of 63.30%.The business had revenue of $1.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.68 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.96 EPS. CME Group’s quarterly revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 12.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 9th were paid a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 9th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. CME Group’s payout ratio is presently 44.11%.

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.