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

Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 2.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 979,240 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 22,035 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned about 0.27% of CME Group worth $206,257,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in shares of CME Group in the third quarter valued at $25,000. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 966.7% in the fourth quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 160 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group in the third quarter valued at about $37,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Atticus Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group in the third quarter valued at about $40,000. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME traded down $1.60 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $210.94. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,353,130 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,722,282. The company has a market cap of $75.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.00, a PEG ratio of 5.92 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $214.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $211.90. CME Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $175.73 and a 52-week high of $223.80.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.44 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $1.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.48 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 56.84% and a return on equity of 12.45%. The company’s revenue was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.42 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a $1.15 dividend. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.10. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.18%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.33%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CME has been the subject of several analyst reports. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $187.00 target price (up previously from $185.00) on shares of CME Group in a report on Thursday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of CME Group from $222.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of CME Group from $209.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of CME Group from $198.00 to $206.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Argus raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.