CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Shares Sold by Freedom Investment Management Inc.

Freedom Investment Management Inc. reduced its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 18.9% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,118 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 725 shares during the period. Freedom Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $688,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 7,810 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,723,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC increased its position in CME Group by 11.8% during the third quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 436 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $96,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Lester Murray Antman dba SimplyRich raised its stake in CME Group by 0.7% during the second quarter. Lester Murray Antman dba SimplyRich now owns 7,667 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,507,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Zions Bancorporation N.A. raised its stake in CME Group by 3.7% during the third quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 1,530 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $338,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. Finally, Quent Capital LLC boosted its holdings in CME Group by 10.2% in the 3rd quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 593 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $131,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Timothy Francis Mccourt sold 1,374 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.12, for a total value of $312,062.88. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 7,275 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,652,298. The trade was a 15.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 27,053 shares in the company, valued at $6,131,291.92. This represents a 14.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 8,028 shares of company stock valued at $1,811,681. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on CME. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of CME Group from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Bank of America lifted their target price on CME Group from $177.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Citigroup increased 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. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $195.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of CME Group in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. They set a “hold” rating and a $221.00 target price for the company. Four research 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $224.47.

CME Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CME opened at $237.33 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $85.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.29 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $190.70 and a 52 week high of $238.12. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $225.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $211.73.

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

CME Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a dividend of $1.15 per share. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.