Channing Capital Management LLC Has $5.64 Million Stock Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Channing Capital Management LLC lowered its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 12.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 26,784 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 3,853 shares during the period. Channing Capital Management LLC's holdings in CME Group were worth $5,641,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 31.5% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,858,967 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $972,863,000 after purchasing an additional 1,163,103 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 1.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,029,771 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $806,841,000 after buying an additional 70,588 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 4.9% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,668,138 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $734,435,000 after purchasing an additional 172,264 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in CME Group by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,579,057 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $716,604,000 after buying an additional 125,263 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 6.7% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,465,422 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $693,847,000 after acquiring an additional 217,101 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company's stock.

CME Group Stock Up 0.2 %

NASDAQ CME traded up $0.35 on Monday, hitting $208.00. 1,722,488 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,783,085. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $213.87 and a 200 day moving average of $211.45. CME Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $175.73 and a twelve month high of $223.80. The company has a market capitalization of $74.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.19 and a beta of 0.48.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.50 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.44 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $1.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.48 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 12.45% and a net margin of 56.84%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.42 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 9.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a dividend of $1.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. 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 dividend yield of 2.21%. CME Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.33%.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other news, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 40,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.91, for a total value of $8,436,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 67,455 shares in the company, valued at $14,226,934.05. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on CME. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of CME Group from $198.00 to $206.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a "sell" rating and set a $187.00 price target (up from $185.00) on shares of CME Group in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of CME Group from $222.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on CME Group from $222.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on CME Group from $226.00 to $228.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $217.80.

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.