Parnassus Investments LLC Has $498.12 Million Stock Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Parnassus Investments LLC cut its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 55.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,257,487 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,825,125 shares during the quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC owned about 0.63% of CME Group worth $498,115,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of CME. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its position in CME Group by 0.6% during the third quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 7,810 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,723,000 after buying an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 11.8% during the 3rd quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 436 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $96,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Lester Murray Antman dba SimplyRich increased its position in shares of CME Group by 0.7% during the second quarter. Lester Murray Antman dba SimplyRich now owns 7,667 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,507,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Zions Bancorporation N.A. raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 3.7% in the third quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 1,530 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $338,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quent Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 10.2% in the third quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 593 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $131,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Timothy S. Bitsberger sold 1,000 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.96, for a total transaction of $226,960.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,589 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,403,279.44. This trade represents a 8.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.92, for a total transaction of $89,168.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 25,067 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,587,935.64. This represents a 1.57 % decrease in their position. 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. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CME has been the topic of several analyst reports. Redburn Atlantic lowered shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $244.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of CME Group from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of CME Group in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $221.00 price target for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on CME Group from $195.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on CME Group from $210.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Four 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 MarketBeat.com, CME Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $224.47.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CME opened at $227.56 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $82.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.93, a P/E/G ratio of 5.20 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. CME Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $190.70 and a 1-year high of $230.36. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $222.80 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $210.53.

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

CME Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a $1.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.02%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.37%.

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.