Bearing Point Capital LLC Invests $7.97 Million in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Bearing Point Capital LLC purchased a new position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 34,317 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $7,969,000. CME Group makes up 1.7% of Bearing Point Capital LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest position.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Anchor Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 52.4% in the 3rd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 378 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $83,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 70.4% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,427,107 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $544,157,000 after buying an additional 1,003,119 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 4.4% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 419,532 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $92,570,000 after buying an additional 17,508 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in CME Group by 36.2% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,626 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,307,000 after buying an additional 1,495 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in CME Group by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 30,170 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $7,000,000 after acquiring an additional 1,557 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Derek Sammann sold 4,650 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.61, for a total value of $1,304,836.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 8,336 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,339,164.96. This represents a 35.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total transaction of $2,888,378.64. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 21,885 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,453,085.45. This represents a 34.63 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 34,726 shares of company stock valued at $8,975,813 in the last 90 days. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of CME Group stock traded up $1.86 during trading on Friday, reaching $283.85. The company's stock had a trading volume of 440,985 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,151,278. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $263.82 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $245.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $102.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.45. 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 one year low of $190.70 and a one year high of $286.48.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.61 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $1.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.56 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.62% and a net margin of 57.52%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.50 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be paid a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.76%. CME Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.30%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on CME. Raymond James upgraded CME Group from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $287.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, March 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $269.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of CME Group from $265.00 to $273.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Erste Group Bank raised CME Group to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on CME Group from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $256.80.

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.