FAS Wealth Partners Inc. raised its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 8.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 12,669 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 942 shares during the quarter. FAS Wealth Partners Inc.'s holdings in CME Group were worth $3,361,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.
A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of CME Group during the 4th quarter worth about $1,107,389,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 89.9% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,280,785 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,923,047,000 after purchasing an additional 3,921,278 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 32,941.0% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,858,887 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $493,144,000 after purchasing an additional 1,853,261 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in CME Group by 38.7% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,366,786 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $781,869,000 after acquiring an additional 939,679 shares during the period. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. increased its stake in CME Group by 4,216.2% in the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 922,805 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $214,301,000 after purchasing an additional 901,425 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on CME Group from $301.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Barclays lifted their price target on CME Group from $283.00 to $299.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on CME Group from $223.00 to $211.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Bank of America lifted their price target on CME Group from $200.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Erste Group Bank downgraded CME Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $261.80.
Read Our Latest Research Report on CME Group
Insider Activity at CME Group
In related news, Director Larry G. Gerdes sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.10, for a total value of $528,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 38,651 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,207,729.10. This represents a 4.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Phyllis M. Lockett sold 1,060 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $277.88, for a total value of $294,552.80. Following the transaction, the director owned 3,108 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $863,651.04. This represents a 25.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 13,400 shares of company stock valued at $3,680,610 in the last ninety days. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.
CME Group Trading Down 1.1%
CME Group stock traded down $3.12 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $274.70. The stock had a trading volume of 2,197,249 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,183,774. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The company has a fifty day moving average of $275.89 and a 200 day moving average of $260.85. The firm has a market cap of $98.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.81 and a beta of 0.44. CME Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $193.25 and a 52-week high of $290.79.
CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.61 by $0.19. The business 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 14.03% and a net margin of 57.71%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.50 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
CME Group Announces Dividend
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th were given a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 9th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.82%. CME Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 50.30%.
About CME Group
(
Free Report)
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.
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