Southpoint Capital Advisors LP Acquires Shares of 500,000 CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Southpoint Capital Advisors LP purchased a new stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 500,000 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $116,115,000. CME Group makes up about 2.7% of Southpoint Capital Advisors LP's holdings, making the stock its 19th largest position. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP owned about 0.14% of CME Group as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

CME Group Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of CME stock traded up $0.26 on Thursday, reaching $282.00. 1,783,281 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,184,866. The stock has a market cap of $101.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $267.11 and a two-hundred day moving average of $248.16. CME Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $190.70 and a 1-year high of $286.48.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.61 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $1.64 billion during 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.50 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.77%. CME Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.30%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CME has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price 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. Barclays upped their target price on CME Group from $279.00 to $283.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Bank of America upped their target price on CME Group from $200.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and issued a $269.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on CME Group from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $256.80.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other CME Group news, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 3,984 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.47, for a total value of $997,872.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 27,046 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,774,211.62. This represents a 12.84% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Charles P. Carey sold 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.56, for a total transaction of $817,680.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,471,824. The trade was a 35.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 27,884 shares of company stock valued at $7,389,843. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

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.