Mawer Investment Management Ltd. Decreases Stock Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Mawer Investment Management Ltd. lessened its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 919,429 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 6,511 shares during the quarter. CME Group comprises 0.9% of Mawer Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings, making the stock its 27th largest position. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. owned 0.26% of CME Group worth $202,872,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CME. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in CME Group by 21.2% during the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 48,205 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,477,000 after acquiring an additional 8,443 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its stake in CME Group by 429.1% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 47,521 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,231,000 after acquiring an additional 38,540 shares during the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management raised its stake in CME Group by 12.2% during the 2nd quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 30,555 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,156,000 after acquiring an additional 3,325 shares during the last quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. raised its stake in CME Group by 4.7% during the 1st quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 99,947 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $21,518,000 after acquiring an additional 4,454 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mather Group LLC. raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 197.2% during the 2nd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 6,066 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,306,000 after buying an additional 4,025 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In related news, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.92, for a total value of $89,168.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 25,067 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,587,935.64. The trade was a 1.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Timothy Francis Mccourt sold 1,374 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.12, for a total transaction of $312,062.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,275 shares in the company, valued at $1,652,298. This trade represents a 15.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 15,621 shares of company stock valued at $3,441,063. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CME has been the topic of a number of research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 11th. Citigroup lifted their price target on CME Group from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target 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. Redburn Atlantic downgraded CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $244.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, 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. Four investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, 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 traded up $1.02 on Monday, hitting $226.30. The company had a trading volume of 4,220 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,905,908. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $222.62 and a 200 day moving average price of $210.39. CME Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $190.70 and a 1-year high of $230.36. The stock has a market cap of $81.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.69, a P/E/G ratio of 5.20 and a beta of 0.55.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.25 earnings per share. CME Group’s revenue was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.22 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued a $1.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.03%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.37%.

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.