CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Shares Sold by Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich

Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich lowered its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 1.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 558,069 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 5,648 shares during the period. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich owned about 0.16% of CME Group worth $117,529,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Naples Global Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Naples Global Advisors LLC now owns 2,072 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $436,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Sapient Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,823,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,074,000. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,118,104 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $223,867,000 after buying an additional 46,021 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,986,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company's stock.

CME Group Price Performance

CME Group stock traded down $0.05 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $212.54. 2,000,622 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,793,498. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $214.73 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $211.93. The company has a market capitalization of $76.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.05, a PEG ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 0.49. CME Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $175.73 and a 12-month high of $223.80.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.44 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $1.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.48 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 12.32% and a net margin of 57.83%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.42 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 9.58 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were given a $1.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.16%. 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

Several research firms have recently commented on CME. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a "sell" rating and issued a $187.00 price target (up from $185.00) on shares of CME Group in a report on Thursday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on CME Group from $222.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on CME Group from $198.00 to $206.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a "hold" rating and set a $210.00 price objective (down from $235.00) on shares of CME Group in a report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on CME Group from $209.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, CME Group has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $217.80.

About CME Group

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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