CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Shares Sold by Stifel Financial Corp

Stifel Financial Corp trimmed its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 18.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 75,087 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 17,416 shares during the quarter. Stifel Financial Corp's holdings in CME Group were worth $16,568,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd bought a new position in CME Group in the second quarter worth approximately $36,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. raised its position in CME Group by 62.2% in the third quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 193 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the period. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 66.1% during the 2nd quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 196 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Asset Dedication LLC grew its position in shares of CME Group by 515.2% during the 2nd quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 203 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of CME Group from $245.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays upped their price objective on CME Group from $231.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on CME Group from $210.00 to $233.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Bank of America upped their price target on CME Group from $177.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Redburn Atlantic cut shares of CME Group from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $244.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $226.20.

CME Group Trading Down 1.9 %

CME traded down $4.51 on Wednesday, hitting $234.68. The company had a trading volume of 1,266,797 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,957,209. CME Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $190.70 and a 12-month high of $249.02. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $228.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $213.33. The company has a market cap of $84.57 billion, a PE ratio of 25.04, a PEG ratio of 5.52 and a beta of 0.56.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.65 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.39% and a net margin of 57.34%. CME Group's quarterly revenue was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.25 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.22 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th will be paid a dividend of $5.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 27th. This is a boost from CME Group's previous dividend of $2.50. CME Group's payout ratio is currently 48.37%.

CME Group announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Thursday, December 5th that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to buy up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In other CME Group news, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 400 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.92, for a total value of $89,168.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 25,067 shares in the company, valued at $5,587,935.64. This represents a 1.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 13,261 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,877,504.39. This represents a 5.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 8,028 shares of company stock worth $1,811,681. Insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

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.