Ethic Inc. Buys 4,468 Shares of CME Group Inc. $CME

Key Points

• Ethic Inc. increased its CME Group stake by 7.7% in Q4, buying 4,468 additional shares and bringing its total holdings to 62,815 shares valued at about $17.15 million.
• CME Group’s latest quarterly results beat expectations, with EPS of $3.36 versus $3.11 expected and revenue of $1.88 billion versus $1.77 billion expected; revenue rose 14.5% year over year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.30 per share, implying a 1.8% yield, while analysts currently rate the stock a Moderate Buy with a consensus target price of $305.29.

Ethic Inc. grew its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 7.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 62,815 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 4,468 shares during the quarter. Ethic Inc.'s holdings in CME Group were worth $17,154,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Caldwell Trust Co raised its position in CME Group by 116.3% during the third quarter. Caldwell Trust Co now owns 93 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Asset Dedication LLC grew its position in shares of CME Group by 64.9% in the 4th quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 94 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the period. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA acquired a new position in shares of CME Group during the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of CME Group during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Corundum Trust Company INC bought a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CME has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of CME Group from a "buy (b+)" rating to a "buy (a-)" rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on CME Group from $295.00 to $302.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on CME Group from $362.00 to $353.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on CME Group from $275.00 to $267.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Raymond James Financial increased their price target on CME Group from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, CME Group has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $305.29.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CME opened at $281.25 on Friday. CME Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $257.17 and a 12-month high of $329.16. The company's 50 day moving average price is $301.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $287.27. The firm has a market cap of $101.91 billion, a PE ratio of 24.00, a PEG ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 0.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.11 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $1.88 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.77 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 63.19% and a return on equity of 15.42%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.80 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 12.26 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 9th will be issued a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 9th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. CME Group's payout ratio is currently 44.37%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 4,200 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.65, for a total value of $1,300,530.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 43,007 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,317,117.55. This trade represents a 8.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 300 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.90, for a total value of $91,770.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 24,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,647,194.10. This trade represents a 1.19% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 7,791 shares of company stock worth $2,489,421. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About CME Group

CME Group Inc is a global markets company that operates some of the world's largest and most liquid derivatives exchanges, including the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) and COMEX. The firm offers futures and options contracts across a broad range of asset classes — including interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, energy, agricultural commodities and metals — and serves a diverse client base of institutional investors, commercial hedgers, brokers and retail participants.

The company's core services include electronic trading on the CME Globex platform, central clearing through CME Clearing, and distribution of market data, indexes and analytics.

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