Cognios Beta Neutral Large Cap Fund LP Has $563,000 Holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Cognios Beta Neutral Large Cap Fund LP trimmed its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 10.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,674 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 315 shares during the period. Cognios Beta Neutral Large Cap Fund LP’s holdings in CME Group were worth $563,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in CME Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 966.7% in the 4th quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 160 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA acquired a new position in CME Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $37,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of CME Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Atticus Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $40,000. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CME has been the subject of several research reports. Barclays lifted their price target on CME Group from $225.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $210.00 price target (down from $235.00) on shares of CME Group in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of CME Group from $222.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Argus boosted their price target on CME Group from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating and set a $229.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Two 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 an average price target of $215.70.

CME Group Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of CME stock traded down $4.18 on Wednesday, hitting $212.59. The company had a trading volume of 2,636,858 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,790,783. CME Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $175.73 and a twelve month high of $223.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The firm has a market cap of $76.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.97, a P/E/G ratio of 6.06 and a beta of 0.49. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $214.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $211.92.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The financial services provider reported $2.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.10. CME Group had a return on equity of 12.32% and a net margin of 57.83%. The firm had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.43 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.92 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate 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 issued a dividend of $1.15 per share. This is a boost 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 2.16%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.86%.

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.