CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Shares Sold by MetLife Investment Management LLC

MetLife Investment Management LLC lowered its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 2.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 93,622 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,406 shares during the quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $20,658,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. PineStone Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 137.6% in the second quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,260,644 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $444,443,000 after purchasing an additional 1,309,097 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in CME Group by 577.9% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 645,330 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $126,872,000 after purchasing an additional 550,133 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in CME Group by 11.3% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,283,196 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,038,676,000 after purchasing an additional 537,758 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in CME Group by 21,465.5% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 485,871 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,072,070,000 after purchasing an additional 483,618 shares during the period. Finally, Baillie Gifford & Co. purchased a new position in shares of CME Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $79,692,000. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CME Group Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of CME Group stock opened at $237.33 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The firm has a market cap of $85.52 billion, a PE ratio of 24.96, a P/E/G ratio of 5.29 and a beta of 0.55. The business’s fifty day moving average is $224.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $211.56. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $190.70 and a fifty-two week high of $238.12.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.65 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.59 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 57.34% and a return on equity of 13.39%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.25 EPS. Analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.22 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be paid a dividend of $1.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.94%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.37%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America upped their price objective on CME Group from $177.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $235.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Redburn Atlantic cut shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $244.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of CME Group from $210.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of CME Group from $219.00 to $231.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $224.47.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In other CME Group news, CFO Lynne Fitzpatrick sold 754 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Sunday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.99, for a total transaction of $163,610.46. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 13,261 shares in the company, valued at $2,877,504.39. This trade represents a 5.38 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 7,593 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.59, for a total value of $1,629,381.87. Following the sale, the director now owns 55,607 shares in the company, valued at $11,932,706.13. This represents a 12.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 15,621 shares of company stock worth $3,441,063. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Profile

CME Group Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates contract markets for the trading of futures and options on futures contracts worldwide. It offers futures and options products based on interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, agricultural commodities, energy, and metals, as well as fixed income and foreign currency trading services.