CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Shares Sold by Symphony Financial Ltd. Co.

Symphony Financial Ltd. Co. lowered its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 76.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,122 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,703 shares during the period. Symphony Financial Ltd. Co.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $245,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Leo Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of CME Group in the third quarter worth approximately $260,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of CME Group by 141.3% in the third quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 9,151 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,019,000 after acquiring an additional 5,359 shares in the last quarter. Venture Visionary Partners LLC increased its position in shares of CME Group by 0.9% in the third quarter. Venture Visionary Partners LLC now owns 33,797 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,458,000 after acquiring an additional 297 shares in the last quarter. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC increased its position in shares of CME Group by 0.8% in the third quarter. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC now owns 18,529 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,088,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in shares of CME Group by 14.3% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 197,571 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $43,594,000 after acquiring an additional 24,643 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 7,593 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 55,607 shares in the company, valued at $11,932,706.13. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CFO Lynne Fitzpatrick sold 754 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Sunday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.99, for a total transaction of $163,610.46. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 13,261 shares in the company, valued at $2,877,504.39. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 7,593 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.59, for a total transaction of $1,629,381.87. Following the transaction, the director now owns 55,607 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,932,706.13. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

CME Group Stock Down 0.4 %

CME opened at $226.17 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $217.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $208.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. CME Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $190.70 and a twelve month high of $230.12. The firm has a market cap of $81.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.73, a PEG ratio of 7.76 and a beta of 0.55.

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

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Investors of record on Monday, September 9th were given a dividend of $1.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 9th. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.03%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.33%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on CME. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $210.00 to $233.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $225.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of CME Group from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted 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. Finally, Redburn Atlantic cut shares of 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $220.07.

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.