Impax Asset Management Group plc Has $56.98 Million Stock Holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Impax Asset Management Group plc reduced its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 12.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 270,558 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 38,782 shares during the quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc owned 0.08% of CME Group worth $56,980,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of CME. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 1,032 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $207,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. West Family Investments Inc. boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. West Family Investments Inc. now owns 1,503 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $278,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC raised its position in CME Group by 1.7% during the third quarter. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC now owns 3,022 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $605,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of CME Group by 3.9% in the third quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,400 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $280,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its position in shares of CME Group by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 15,841 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,243,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company's stock.

CME Group Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of CME Group stock traded up $2.22 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $212.00. 2,126,989 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,782,675. 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 Inc. has a twelve month low of $175.73 and a twelve month high of $223.80. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $213.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $211.34. The company has a market cap of $76.32 billion, a PE ratio of 23.85, a PEG ratio of 4.83 and a beta of 0.49.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The financial services provider reported $2.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.43 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 57.83% and a return on equity of 12.32%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 19.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.92 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 9.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a $1.15 dividend. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This is an increase from CME Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.10. CME Group's payout ratio is currently 51.86%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CME has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Argus boosted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a "market perform" rating and set a $229.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Barclays lifted their price target on CME Group from $225.00 to $226.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a "sell" rating and set a $180.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of CME Group from $222.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, CME Group has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $216.18.

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.