Natixis Advisors LLC Sells 84,429 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Natixis Advisors LLC lessened its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 33.8% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 165,412 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 84,429 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $36,498,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CME. Y.D. More Investments Ltd bought a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $36,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its stake 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 valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Asset Dedication LLC lifted its stake in CME Group by 515.2% in the 2nd quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 203 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. lifted its stake 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 valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank & Trust Co bought a new position in CME Group in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $76,000. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CME Group news, Director Timothy S. Bitsberger sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.96, for a total value of $226,960.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,589 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,403,279.44. This trade represents a 8.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Timothy Francis Mccourt sold 1,374 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.12, for a total transaction of $312,062.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,275 shares in the company, 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 15,621 shares of company stock worth $3,441,063. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $235.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays increased 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 note on Thursday, October 24th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $195.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $212.00 to $213.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, CME Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $224.47.

CME Group Trading Up 0.8 %

CME opened at $225.28 on Monday. CME Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $190.70 and a twelve month high of $230.36. 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 company has a fifty day moving average of $222.62 and a 200-day moving average of $210.39. The stock has a market cap of $81.18 billion, a PE ratio of 23.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.20 and a beta of 0.55.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share 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 analysts’ expectations of $1.59 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.25 earnings per share. CME Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.22 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued a $1.15 dividend. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. CME Group’s payout ratio is 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.