Alan B Lancz & Associates Inc. Trims Stock Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Alan B Lancz & Associates Inc. cut its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 3.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,625 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 100 shares during the quarter. Alan B Lancz & Associates Inc.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $553,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of CME. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group in the third quarter valued at $25,000. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 966.7% during the 4th quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 160 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares during the period. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. Atticus Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in CME Group during the third quarter worth approximately $40,000. Finally, GoalVest Advisory LLC raised its position in shares of CME Group by 1,233.3% in the 4th quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 200 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 185 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.91, for a total value of $8,436,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 67,455 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,226,934.05. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Up 0.1 %

NASDAQ CME traded up $0.17 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $207.65. 2,065,362 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,765,130. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. CME Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $175.73 and a 1-year high of $223.80. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $214.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $211.56. The company has a market cap of $74.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.62, a P/E/G ratio of 5.18 and a beta of 0.48.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by $0.06. CME Group had a net margin of 56.84% and a return on equity of 12.45%. The business had revenue of $1.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.48 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.42 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 9.72 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were given a dividend of $1.15 per share. This is a boost from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.10. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.22%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.33%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on CME. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on CME Group from $222.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of CME Group from $198.00 to $206.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Argus boosted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of CME Group from $226.00 to $228.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on CME Group from $222.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $217.80.

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.