Russell Investments Group Ltd. Acquires 22,035 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 979,240 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 22,035 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned 0.27% of CME Group worth $206,257,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 31.5% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,858,967 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $972,863,000 after buying an additional 1,163,103 shares during the last quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $113,772,000. J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in CME Group during the 3rd quarter worth $86,424,000. Barclays PLC increased its position in CME Group by 31.7% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,605,211 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $321,395,000 after buying an additional 386,730 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its position in CME Group by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,465,422 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $693,847,000 after buying an additional 217,101 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on CME Group from $222.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group cut CME Group from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $195.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Bank of America raised their price target on CME Group from $209.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a "sell" rating and issued a $187.00 price objective (up from $185.00) on shares of CME Group in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a "hold" rating and issued a $210.00 price objective (down from $235.00) on shares of CME Group in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, CME Group presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $217.80.

CME Group Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of CME traded down $1.60 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $210.94. 1,353,130 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,722,282. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $175.73 and a 52 week high of $223.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $75.94 billion, a PE ratio of 24.00, a PEG ratio of 5.92 and a beta of 0.49. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $214.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $211.87.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.44 by $0.06. The company 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 12.45% and a net margin of 56.84%. The firm's revenue was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.42 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 9.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a $1.15 dividend. This is an increase from CME Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.10. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.18%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. CME Group's payout ratio is presently 52.33%.

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.