Cantillon Capital Management LLC Trims Stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Cantillon Capital Management LLC reduced its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 2.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,664,816 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 50,497 shares during the period. CME Group comprises 2.2% of Cantillon Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Cantillon Capital Management LLC owned about 0.46% of CME Group worth $367,342,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in CME. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 7,810 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,723,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 11.8% during the 3rd quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 436 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $96,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Lester Murray Antman dba SimplyRich raised its position in shares of CME Group by 0.7% in 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 acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Zions Bancorporation N.A. boosted its position 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Quent Capital LLC grew its stake 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 acquiring an additional 55 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other CME Group news, 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 55,607 shares in the company, valued at $11,932,706.13. The trade was a 12.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 400 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.92, for a total value of $89,168.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 25,067 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,587,935.64. This represents a 1.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 15,621 shares of company stock valued at $3,441,063 in the last ninety days. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

CME Group Trading Up 1.0 %

NASDAQ CME opened at $227.56 on Tuesday. CME Group Inc. has a one year low of $190.70 and a one year high of $230.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $82.00 billion, a PE ratio of 23.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.20 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $222.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $210.53.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.65 by $0.03. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.39% and a net margin of 57.34%. 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 company earned $2.25 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.22 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be paid a $1.15 dividend. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.02%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.37%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on CME shares. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of CME Group from $177.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on CME Group from $245.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Redburn Atlantic cut shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $244.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Citigroup raised their target price on CME Group from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $235.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $224.47.

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.