PineStone Asset Management Inc. Sells 754,662 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

PineStone Asset Management Inc. cut its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 33.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,505,982 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 754,662 shares during the quarter. CME Group makes up 3.2% of PineStone Asset Management Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. PineStone Asset Management Inc. owned 0.42% of CME Group worth $332,295,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Salomon & Ludwin LLC bought a new position in shares of CME Group during the first quarter worth $28,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd bought a new position in shares of CME Group in the second quarter valued at about $36,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its position in CME Group by 66.1% during the second 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. Asset Dedication LLC lifted its holdings in CME Group by 515.2% during the 2nd quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 203 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. boosted its position in shares of 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 valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other CME Group news, CFO Lynne Fitzpatrick sold 754 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction 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 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director Timothy S. Bitsberger sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.96, for a total transaction of $226,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 10,589 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,403,279.44. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Lynne Fitzpatrick sold 754 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Sunday, September 15th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $2,877,504.39. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 15,221 shares of company stock worth $3,351,895 over the last three months. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CME has been the subject of several recent research reports. TD Cowen began coverage on CME Group in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $221.00 price target for the company. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on CME Group from $245.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Citigroup raised their price objective on CME Group from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on CME Group from $187.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of CME Group from $219.00 to $231.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Four 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $222.73.

CME Group Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ CME traded down $1.75 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $223.61. The stock had a trading volume of 1,318,479 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,917,519. 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's 50 day moving average price is $220.36 and its 200 day moving average price is $209.34. CME Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $190.70 and a twelve month high of $230.36. The firm has a market cap of $80.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.72 and a beta of 0.55.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.65 by $0.03. CME Group had a net margin of 57.34% and a return on equity of 13.39%. The company had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.25 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.23 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Investors of record on Monday, September 9th were given a $1.15 dividend. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 9th. CME Group's payout ratio is currently 48.37%.

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.