Hyman Charles D Acquires New Holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Hyman Charles D bought a new stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,155 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $243,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 1,163,103 shares during the last quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc acquired a new position in CME Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $113,772,000. J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of CME Group in the third quarter valued at $86,424,000. Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 31.7% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,605,211 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $321,395,000 after acquiring an additional 386,730 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 217,101 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of CME Group from $222.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $187.00 target price (up from $185.00) on shares of CME Group in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of CME Group from $222.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Barclays raised 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of CME Group from $198.00 to $206.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Two investment 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 MarketBeat.com, CME Group has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $217.80.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In related news, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 40,000 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.91, for a total value of $8,436,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 67,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,226,934.05. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

CME Group Stock Performance

CME traded up $0.34 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $208.34. 2,130,585 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,787,588. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $175.73 and a fifty-two week high of $223.80. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $213.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $211.42. The company has a market capitalization of $75.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.70, a PEG ratio of 5.19 and a beta of 0.48.

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

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a $1.15 dividend. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.21%. 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. CME Group’s payout ratio is currently 52.33%.

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.