Bearing Point Capital LLC Acquires Shares of 34,317 CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

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

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of CME. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,243,090 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $7,952,273,000 after buying an additional 326,623 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,389,442 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,946,717,000 after acquiring an additional 104,697 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 89.9% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,280,785 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,923,047,000 after purchasing an additional 3,921,278 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,107,389,000. Finally, FIL Ltd lifted its position in CME Group by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 4,081,391 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $947,821,000 after purchasing an additional 61,908 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

CME Group Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of CME traded up $1.84 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $284.82. 1,411,350 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,158,390. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $262.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $244.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $102.64 billion, a PE ratio of 29.45, a PEG ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.45. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $190.70 and a 52 week high of $286.52.

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

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from CME Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.76%. CME Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.30%.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.83, for a total transaction of $385,245.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 8,036 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,063,885.88. This represents a 15.73 % 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 the SEC website. Also, Director Larry G. Gerdes sold 2,000 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.10, for a total transaction of $528,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 38,651 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,207,729.10. This trade represents a 4.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 34,726 shares of company stock valued at $8,975,813 in the last ninety days. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $275.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. UBS Group lifted their price target on CME Group from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on CME Group from $265.00 to $273.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and set a $269.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of CME Group to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $256.80.

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.