Anchor Capital Advisors LLC Lowers Holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Anchor Capital Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 16.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 72,149 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 13,843 shares during the period. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $14,185,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of CME. Gold Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Northwest Financial Advisors acquired a new stake in CME Group during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC purchased a new position in CME Group in the first quarter valued at $28,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of CME Group by 66.1% in the second quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 196 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the period. Finally, Asset Dedication LLC boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 515.2% during the 2nd quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 203 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CME Group Price Performance

CME Group stock opened at $220.50 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $203.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $207.59. CME Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $190.70 and a 12-month high of $223.80. The stock has a market cap of $79.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.09, a PEG ratio of 6.51 and a beta of 0.55.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.53 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.53 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 56.98% and a return on equity of 12.82%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.30 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 9.89 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be given a $1.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 9th. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.09%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.33%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on CME Group from $212.00 to $213.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on CME Group from $193.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of CME Group from $187.00 to $191.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of CME Group from $208.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $209.73.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other news, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 7,593 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 55,607 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,932,706.13. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 7,593 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.59, for a total value of $1,629,381.87. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 55,607 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,932,706.13. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Charles P. Carey sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.44, for a total transaction of $586,320.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,399,936.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company 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.