CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Holdings Decreased by Qsemble Capital Management LP

Qsemble Capital Management LP cut its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 62.3% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 8,357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 13,839 shares during the period. Qsemble Capital Management LP’s holdings in CME Group were worth $1,844,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CME. Waverly Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $1,769,000. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 0.6% during the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 580,622 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $125,002,000 after purchasing an additional 3,476 shares during the last quarter. Brown Shipley& Co Ltd raised its position in shares of CME Group by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Brown Shipley& Co Ltd now owns 7,376 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,564,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. Garner Asset Management Corp lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Garner Asset Management Corp now owns 11,885 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,559,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Plato Investment Management Ltd boosted its position in CME Group by 617.3% during the 1st quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 14,589 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,141,000 after purchasing an additional 12,555 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of CME Group stock opened at $229.37 on Tuesday. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $190.70 and a 52 week high of $230.74. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $223.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $211.19. The stock has a market cap of $82.66 billion, a PE ratio of 24.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.28 and a beta of 0.55.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.65 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.25 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a dividend of $1.15 per share. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.37%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on CME Group from $210.00 to $233.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $177.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $235.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Citigroup lifted their price target on CME Group from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 11th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, CME Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $224.47.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Lynne Fitzpatrick sold 754 shares of the stock in a transaction on Sunday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.99, for a total value 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 represents a 5.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 7,593 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $11,932,706.13. The trade was a 12.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 15,621 shares of company stock valued at $3,441,063 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

About CME Group

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.