PAX Financial Group LLC Reduces Stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

PAX Financial Group LLC trimmed its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 10.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,456 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 298 shares during the quarter. PAX Financial Group LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $570,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 570.6% during the 4th quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC grew its holdings in CME Group by 188.4% during the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 124 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC increased its position in CME Group by 50.0% during the fourth quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 129 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Financial Life Planners acquired a new position in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Knuff & Co LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CME has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of CME Group from $257.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of CME Group from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Raymond James raised CME Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $287.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Citigroup downgraded CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $241.53.

CME Group Trading Down 5.2 %

NASDAQ CME opened at $254.46 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.01. CME Group Inc. has a one year low of $190.70 and a one year high of $273.42. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $252.60 and its 200 day moving average price is $237.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $91.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.31, a PEG ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.53.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.46 by $0.06. CME Group had a net margin of 57.52% and a return on equity of 13.62%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.96%. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.71%.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In other news, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 3,984 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.47, for a total transaction of $997,872.48. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 27,046 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,774,211.62. The trade was a 12.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total value of $2,888,378.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 21,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,453,085.45. This represents a 34.63 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 27,076 shares of company stock worth $6,871,496. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.