Lockerman Financial Group Inc. Reduces Stock Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Lockerman Financial Group Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 6.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 959 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 70 shares during the quarter. Lockerman Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $212,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in CME. Salomon & Ludwin LLC acquired a new position in shares of CME Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd bought a new position in CME Group during the 2nd quarter worth $36,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in CME Group by 66.1% in the second quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 196 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Asset Dedication LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 515.2% during the second quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 203 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares during the period. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of CME Group during the first quarter worth about $41,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ CME traded up $0.62 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $224.82. The company had a trading volume of 1,589,898 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,949,694. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $215.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $207.94. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $190.70 and a fifty-two week high of $226.78. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The stock has a market cap of $80.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.51, a P/E/G ratio of 7.76 and a beta of 0.55.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.56 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.53 by $0.03. CME Group had a return on equity of 12.82% and a net margin of 56.98%. The firm had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.53 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.30 earnings per share. CME Group’s quarterly revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 9th were given a $1.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 9th. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.05%. CME Group’s payout ratio is 52.33%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 7,593 shares of the company’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 transaction of $1,629,381.87. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 55,607 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,932,706.13. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CFO Lynne Fitzpatrick sold 754 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Sunday, September 15th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $2,877,504.39. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale 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 stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The shares were 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 $11,932,706.13. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on CME shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of CME Group from $195.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on CME Group from $187.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Citigroup lifted their price target on CME Group from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Oppenheimer raised their target price on CME Group from $228.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Redburn Atlantic cut shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $244.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $219.53.

CME Group Company 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.