Gotham Asset Management LLC Increases Stock Holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Gotham Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 9.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 85,977 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 7,209 shares during the quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC's holdings in CME Group were worth $19,966,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of CME. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of CME Group during the fourth quarter worth $1,107,389,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in CME Group by 89.9% in 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 buying an additional 3,921,278 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $871,063,000. Capital Wealth Planning LLC boosted its position in CME Group by 69.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 2,435,823 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $565,671,000 after buying an additional 996,498 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Egerton Capital UK LLP acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $223,967,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In related news, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.83, for a total value of $385,245.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 8,036 shares in the company, valued at $2,063,885.88. This represents a 15.73 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Dennis Suskind sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.28, for a total transaction of $271,280.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 2,915 shares in the company, valued at $790,781.20. This trade represents a 25.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 34,726 shares of company stock worth $8,975,813 in the last ninety days. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME stock opened at $284.35 on Friday. 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 business has a 50 day moving average of $264.47 and a two-hundred day moving average of $245.55. The company has a market cap of $102.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.41, 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 $286.48.

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

CME Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th will be issued a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. 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 presently 50.30%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CME has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Raymond James raised CME Group from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $287.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, March 10th. Erste Group Bank upgraded CME Group to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of CME Group from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $279.00 to $283.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of CME Group from $200.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $256.80.

CME Group Company 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.

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