State Street Corp Sells 119,442 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

State Street Corp lowered its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 0.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,897,960 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 119,442 shares during the quarter. State Street Corp owned about 4.41% of CME Group worth $3,507,885,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Truvestments Capital LLC acquired a new position in CME Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd acquired a new position in shares of CME Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $36,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of CME Group by 66.1% in the 2nd quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 196 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Asset Dedication LLC raised its stake 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 buying an additional 170 shares during the period. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. lifted its holdings in CME Group by 62.2% during 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 in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

CME Group Stock Down 2.7 %

CME stock traded down $6.64 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $239.38. The company had a trading volume of 3,162,381 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,959,108. 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 52 week low of $190.70 and a 52 week high of $249.02. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $227.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $212.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

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

CME Group declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, December 5th that allows the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be paid a dividend of $1.15 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.92%. CME Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 48.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Sunil Cutinho sold 4,500 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.64, for a total transaction 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 trade represents a 14.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Timothy Francis Mccourt sold 1,374 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.12, for a total value of $312,062.88. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 7,275 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,652,298. This trade represents a 15.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 8,028 shares of company stock valued at $1,811,681. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on CME. Oppenheimer increased 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. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on CME Group from $195.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of CME Group in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $221.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $219.00 to $231.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $224.47.

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.