CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Shares Bought by Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc.

Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 2.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,041,526 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 23,340 shares during the quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $224,230,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of CME. Gold Investment Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in CME Group in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Northwest Financial Advisors acquired a new stake in CME Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in CME Group by 966.7% during the 4th quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 160 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on CME Group from $198.00 to $206.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of CME Group from $226.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Argus lifted their price target on shares of CME Group from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $209.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $210.00 target price (down previously from $235.00) on shares of CME Group in a report on Friday, April 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $217.80.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CME traded up $0.02 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $209.64. 1,394,434 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,778,121. 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 0.10, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The firm has a market cap of $75.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.85, a PEG ratio of 5.27 and a beta of 0.49. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $214.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $211.69.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.44 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $1.49 billion during 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%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.42 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 9.72 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a dividend of $1.15 per share. This is a boost from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.19%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.