Highland Capital Management LLC Cuts Holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Highland Capital Management LLC decreased its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 7.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,254 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 335 shares during the period. Highland Capital Management LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $939,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Capital International Investors raised its position in shares of CME Group by 24.1% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 15,809,175 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,403,557,000 after acquiring an additional 3,069,806 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in CME Group by 11.3% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,283,196 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,038,676,000 after purchasing an additional 537,758 shares in the last quarter. GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 1.1% during the first quarter. GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd now owns 4,009,068 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $863,112,000 after buying an additional 43,293 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 3,029,145 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $595,530,000 after buying an additional 94,302 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in shares of CME Group by 6.6% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,835,075 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $557,371,000 after buying an additional 176,004 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on CME shares. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of CME Group from $177.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on CME Group from $245.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on CME Group from $210.00 to $233.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on CME Group from $212.00 to $213.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of CME Group from $193.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $222.07.

CME Group Stock Performance

CME opened at $226.14 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. CME Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $190.70 and a 12-month high of $230.36. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $218.94 and a two-hundred day moving average of $208.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $81.43 billion, a PE ratio of 25.73, a P/E/G ratio of 7.76 and a beta of 0.55.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its earnings results 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 net margin of 56.98% and a return on equity of 12.82%. The firm had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.59 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.25 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.04 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 9th were paid a $1.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 9th. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.03%. CME Group’s payout ratio is 52.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

CME Group Company 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.