Lazard Asset Management LLC Sells 15,448 Shares of CME Group Inc. $CME

Lazard Asset Management LLC trimmed its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 34.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 29,928 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 15,448 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $8,839,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. FLC Capital Advisors bought a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 4th quarter valued at $2,122,000. MOKAN Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in shares of CME Group by 138.8% in the 4th quarter. MOKAN Wealth Management Inc. now owns 7,144 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,953,000 after buying an additional 4,152 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 352,922 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $96,376,000 after acquiring an additional 22,692 shares in the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 132.7% in the 4th quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 21,228 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,797,000 after acquiring an additional 12,105 shares in the last quarter. Finally, North Dakota State Investment Board purchased a new position in CME Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $3,368,000. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other CME Group news, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 35,000 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.51, for a total value of $10,447,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 55,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,606,111.30. This trade represents a 38.62% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 5,753 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.63, for a total value of $1,752,536.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 27,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,438,860.26. This represents a 17.20% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on CME shares. Weiss Ratings cut shares of CME Group from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Rothschild & Co Redburn upgraded shares of CME Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $316.00 to $323.00 in a report on Thursday, June 11th. Erste Group Bank cut CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Wall Street Zen downgraded CME Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Sunday, July 12th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $320.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $291.81.

CME Group Stock Up 2.1%

NASDAQ:CME opened at $265.44 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The firm has a market cap of $96.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.51, a P/E/G ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.25. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $218.31 and a fifty-two week high of $329.16. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $251.79 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $281.11.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.91 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $1.71 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.68 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 63.30% and a return on equity of 15.60%. The business’s revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.96 earnings per share. Analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 12.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 9th were paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 9th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.11%.

CME Group 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.