CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC Sells 1,374 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 24.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,265 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,374 shares during the period. CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $941,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 0.6% during the 3rd 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 boosted 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 buying an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Lester Murray Antman dba SimplyRich boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Lester Murray Antman dba SimplyRich now owns 7,667 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,507,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 1,530 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $338,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quent Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 10.2% in the 3rd quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 593 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $131,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CME has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. TD Cowen initiated coverage on CME Group in a report on Thursday, September 26th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $221.00 target price on the stock. Bank of America increased their target price on CME Group from $177.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Oppenheimer increased their target price on CME Group from $245.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $235.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on 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 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $224.47.

CME Group Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of CME opened at $229.04 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $223.64 and a 200 day moving average of $211.07. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $190.70 and a fifty-two week high of $230.74. The firm has a market cap of $82.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.30 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.65 by $0.03. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.39% and a net margin of 57.34%. The business had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.25 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.22 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The firm 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 dividend of $1.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.01%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.37%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 7,593 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.59, for a total transaction of $1,629,381.87. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 55,607 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,932,706.13. This trade represents a 12.01 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Timothy S. Bitsberger sold 1,000 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.96, for a total value of $226,960.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 10,589 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,403,279.44. This trade represents a 8.63 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 15,621 shares of company stock worth $3,441,063. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.