Krane Funds Advisors LLC Sells 317 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Krane Funds Advisors LLC decreased its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 12.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,330 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 317 shares during the quarter. Krane Funds Advisors LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $491,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CME. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in CME Group by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,995 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $631,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC boosted its stake in CME Group by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC now owns 3,022 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $605,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Greystone Financial Group LLC grew its position in CME Group by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Greystone Financial Group LLC now owns 3,282 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $691,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. West Michigan Advisors LLC increased its stake in CME Group by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. West Michigan Advisors LLC now owns 6,328 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,267,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. lifted its stake in shares of CME Group by 15.0% during the fourth quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 461 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $97,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CME Group Trading Up 0.8 %

NASDAQ CME traded up $1.49 on Friday, reaching $197.13. The stock had a trading volume of 1,671,739 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,859,364. CME Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $177.97 and a 12-month high of $223.80. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $208.13 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $210.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $70.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.43, a P/E/G ratio of 5.21 and a beta of 0.52.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.44 by $0.06. CME Group had a return on equity of 12.45% and a net margin of 56.84%. The company had revenue of $1.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.48 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.42 EPS. CME Group’s revenue was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 9.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 25th. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th will be paid a dividend of $1.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.33%. CME Group’s payout ratio is 52.33%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on CME. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of CME Group from $222.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Argus lifted their target price on shares of CME Group from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of CME Group from $198.00 to $206.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “sell” rating and set a $187.00 target price (up from $185.00) on shares of CME Group in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on CME Group from $226.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $217.80.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In related news, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.91, for a total value of $8,436,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 67,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,226,934.05. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.91, for a total transaction of $8,436,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 67,455 shares in the company, valued at $14,226,934.05. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Terry L. Savage sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.65, for a total value of $526,625.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 17,441 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,673,946.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 54,290 shares of company stock valued at $11,393,700 over the last 90 days. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.