Distillate Capital Partners LLC Sells 8,261 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Distillate Capital Partners LLC lowered its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 8.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 89,666 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 8,261 shares during the quarter. CME Group makes up 1.0% of Distillate Capital Partners LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest holding. Distillate Capital Partners LLC's holdings in CME Group were worth $20,823,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. EP Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in CME Group by 9.7% during the third quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,226 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $271,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 17.8% during the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,574 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,013,000 after purchasing an additional 690 shares in the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,113 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $246,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp grew its stake in shares of CME Group by 10.3% in the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 96,069 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $21,198,000 after buying an additional 8,968 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Anchor Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 52.4% during the 3rd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 378 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $83,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company's stock.

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CME Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CME traded down $1.12 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $262.57. 94,808 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,131,911. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $94.62 billion, a PE ratio of 27.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.43. CME Group Inc. has a one year low of $190.70 and a one year high of $273.42. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $255.66 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $239.56.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.46 by $0.06. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.62% and a net margin of 57.52%. Analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.90%. This is an increase from CME Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. CME Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 51.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CME has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised CME Group from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $301.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Citigroup lowered shares of CME Group from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on CME Group from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on CME Group from $269.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and set a $269.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $247.47.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other CME Group news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total value of $2,888,378.64. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 21,885 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,453,085.45. This represents a 34.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Howard J. Siegel sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total value of $2,600,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 21,873 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,686,980. This trade represents a 31.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 27,076 shares of company stock valued at $6,871,496 in the last ninety days. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.