Wealth Advisory Solutions LLC Sells 15,894 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Wealth Advisory Solutions LLC decreased its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 52.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,368 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 15,894 shares during the quarter. Wealth Advisory Solutions LLC's holdings in CME Group were worth $3,170,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of CME. Salomon & Ludwin LLC purchased a new position in shares of CME Group during the first quarter worth about $28,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd bought a new stake in CME Group in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $36,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its position in CME Group by 66.1% in the 2nd quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 196 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Asset Dedication LLC lifted its position in CME Group by 515.2% in the 2nd quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 203 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. lifted its position in CME Group by 62.2% in the 3rd quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 193 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup boosted their target price on CME Group from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on CME Group from $225.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on CME Group from $212.00 to $213.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $235.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on CME Group from $187.00 to $191.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $220.07.

CME Group Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of CME traded down $1.27 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $227.05. 1,138,172 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,937,908. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. CME Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $190.70 and a 1 year high of $230.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $81.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.97, a PEG ratio of 7.76 and a beta of 0.55. The business's 50-day moving average price is $216.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $208.32.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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. The company had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.53 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 12.82% and a net margin of 56.98%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.30 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 7,593 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 $11,932,706.13. This 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 available at this link. In other news, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 7,593 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Lynne Fitzpatrick sold 754 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 13,261 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,877,504.39. This represents 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 insiders.

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.