139,030 Shares in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Purchased by Bahl & Gaynor Inc.

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. bought a new position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 139,030 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $29,280,000.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 1,032 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $207,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC now owns 3,022 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $605,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $280,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the period. West Michigan Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. West Michigan Advisors LLC now owns 6,328 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,267,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. Finally, Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 4,489 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $899,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CME has been the topic of a number of research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on CME Group from $222.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday. Barclays raised their price objective on CME Group from $226.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $210.00 target price (down previously from $235.00) on shares of CME Group in a research note on Friday, April 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on CME Group from $198.00 to $206.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on CME Group from $209.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $217.80.

CME Group Stock Down 0.8 %

NASDAQ CME traded down $1.60 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $210.94. 1,353,075 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,788,555. CME Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $175.73 and a 1-year high of $223.80. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $214.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $211.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The company has a market cap of $75.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.00, a P/E/G ratio of 5.97 and a beta of 0.49.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued 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 company had revenue of $1.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.48 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 12.45% and a net margin of 56.84%. The business’s revenue was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.42 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 9.58 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were given a $1.15 dividend. This is a positive change 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%.

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.