IMS Capital Management Cuts Stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

IMS Capital Management lowered its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 4,395 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 199 shares during the quarter. IMS Capital Management’s holdings in CME Group were worth $970,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of CME Group by 58.4% in the third quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 613,828 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $135,441,000 after purchasing an additional 226,306 shares during the period. Magnetar Financial LLC increased its stake in CME Group by 149.4% during the second quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC now owns 23,759 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,671,000 after acquiring an additional 14,234 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in shares of CME Group by 18.3% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,826,501 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $403,017,000 after acquiring an additional 283,171 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its position in CME Group by 39.7% in the third quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 204,238 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $45,065,000 after purchasing an additional 58,037 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can lifted its stake in CME Group by 41.8% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,028,090 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $224,432,000 after acquiring an additional 303,169 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup increased 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. Piper Sandler increased their price target on CME Group from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Redburn Atlantic lowered CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $244.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of CME Group from $195.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, CME Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $226.20.

Insider Activity

In other CME Group news, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.92, for a total value of $89,168.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 25,067 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,587,935.64. This trade represents a 1.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Timothy Francis Mccourt sold 1,374 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,275 shares in the company, valued at $1,652,298. This represents a 15.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 7,274 shares of company stock valued at $1,648,071. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME opened at $235.99 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $85.04 billion, a PE ratio of 24.81, a P/E/G ratio of 5.41 and a beta of 0.56. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $229.75 and a 200-day moving average of $214.34. 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 Inc. has a one year low of $190.70 and a one year high of $249.02.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.59 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 57.34% and a return on equity of 13.39%. CME Group’s revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.25 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th will be paid a $5.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 27th. This is a boost from CME Group’s previous dividend of $2.50. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.37%.

CME Group announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan 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 reacquire up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.