Aviance Capital Partners LLC Sells 57 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Aviance Capital Partners LLC cut its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 2.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,410 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 57 shares during the period. Aviance Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $531,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Y.D. More Investments Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group in the second quarter valued at $36,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. raised its position in CME Group by 66.1% in the 2nd quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 196 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. Asset Dedication LLC lifted its stake in CME Group by 515.2% in the second quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 203 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 62.2% during the third quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 193 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the period. Finally, Bank & Trust Co bought a new position in shares of CME Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $76,000. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other news, insider Sunil Cutinho sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.64, for a total transaction of $1,019,880.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 27,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,131,291.92. The trade was a 14.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 7,593 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 55,607 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,932,706.13. The trade was a 12.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 15,621 shares of company stock valued at $3,441,063 in the last quarter. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CME has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup raised 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of 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 reduced 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. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of CME Group in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $221.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of CME Group from $210.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $224.47.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of CME stock opened at $229.66 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $82.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.15, a PEG ratio of 5.20 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $223.02 and its 200 day moving average is $210.69. CME Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $190.70 and a 1-year high of $230.74.

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

CME Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued a dividend of $1.15 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.00%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.37%.

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.