CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Stock Position Cut by Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC

Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC lessened its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 5.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 26,171 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,553 shares during the period. Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $5,506,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of CME. AE Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in CME Group by 25.5% in the 3rd quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,543 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $509,000 after acquiring an additional 516 shares during the last quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in CME Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $298,000. Oak Thistle LLC acquired a new stake in CME Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $462,000. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in CME Group by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 211,208 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $42,288,000 after acquiring an additional 7,927 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its holdings in CME Group by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 5,073 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,016,000 after acquiring an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CME has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $222.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of CME Group from $226.00 to $228.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of CME Group from $198.00 to $206.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of CME Group from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $195.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of CME Group from $222.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, CME Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $217.80.

CME Group Stock Down 0.8 %

CME traded down $1.60 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $210.94. 1,353,130 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,722,282. The company has a market cap of $75.94 billion, a PE ratio of 24.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.92 and a beta of 0.49. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $214.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $211.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.02. CME Group Inc. has a one year low of $175.73 and a one year high of $223.80.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.50 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $1.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.48 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.42 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 9.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.18%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.