MML Investors Services LLC Sells 1,462 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

MML Investors Services LLC reduced its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 7.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 17,708 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,462 shares during the quarter. MML Investors Services LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $3,907,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Diversified Trust Co purchased a new stake in CME Group in the second quarter worth $264,000. ORG Partners LLC increased its holdings in CME Group by 700.0% in the 2nd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 408 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $80,000 after acquiring an additional 357 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB raised its stake in CME Group by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 70,508 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,862,000 after acquiring an additional 754 shares during the period. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. bought a new position in CME Group during the second quarter worth about $313,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in CME Group by 82.0% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,175 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $468,000 after purchasing an additional 980 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on CME shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on shares of CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of CME Group from $177.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Citigroup raised their price target on CME Group from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on CME Group from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on CME Group from $210.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $226.20.

CME Group Trading Up 0.5 %

CME stock opened at $237.19 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $85.47 billion, a PE ratio of 24.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.41 and a beta of 0.56. 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 Inc. has a one year low of $190.70 and a one year high of $249.02. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $229.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $213.79.

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 the consensus estimate 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. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th will be issued a dividend of $5.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 27th. This is a boost from CME Group’s previous dividend of $2.50. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.37%.

CME Group declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, December 5th that allows the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Lynne Fitzpatrick sold 754 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Sunday, September 15th. The shares were 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 directly owns 13,261 shares in the company, valued at $2,877,504.39. This represents a 5.38 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The stock was 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 directly owns 25,067 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,587,935.64. This trade represents a 1.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 8,028 shares of company stock worth $1,811,681 in the last ninety days. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.