Quadrature Capital Ltd Trims Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Quadrature Capital Ltd lessened its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 52.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 18,342 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 19,985 shares during the quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd's holdings in CME Group were worth $4,047,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CME. PineStone Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of CME Group by 137.6% during the 2nd quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,260,644 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $444,443,000 after buying an additional 1,309,097 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in shares of CME Group by 577.9% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 645,330 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $126,872,000 after buying an additional 550,133 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of CME Group by 11.3% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,283,196 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,038,676,000 after buying an additional 537,758 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of CME Group by 21,465.5% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 485,871 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,072,070,000 after buying an additional 483,618 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in shares of CME Group by 17.8% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,514,040 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $554,707,000 after buying an additional 380,071 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In other news, insider Sunil Cutinho sold 4,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.64, for a total value of $1,019,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 27,053 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,131,291.92. This represents a 14.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing 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 dated 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 sale, 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 5.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 8,028 shares of company stock valued at $1,811,681 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

CME Group Stock Down 2.7 %

Shares of CME stock traded down $6.64 on Friday, reaching $239.38. 3,162,381 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,959,108. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The business's 50 day moving average price is $227.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $212.77. The company has a market capitalization of $86.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.17, a PEG ratio of 5.55 and a beta of 0.56. CME Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $190.70 and a twelve month high of $249.02.

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

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

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a $1.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.92%. CME Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.37%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of CME Group in a report on Thursday, September 26th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $221.00 target price for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of CME Group from $195.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of CME Group from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on shares of CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of CME Group from $210.00 to $233.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. 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. According to data from MarketBeat, CME Group presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $224.47.

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.