CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Shares Purchased by Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC

Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC boosted its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 12.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 9,845 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,085 shares during the period. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $2,073,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. RB Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of CME Group by 11.4% in the first quarter. RB Capital Management LLC now owns 1,419 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $338,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. Prudential PLC bought a new position in shares of CME Group in the first quarter worth $1,709,000. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its stake in shares of CME Group by 5.8% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 3,485 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $829,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of CME Group in the first quarter worth $281,000. Finally, Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. grew its stake in shares of CME Group by 9.5% in the first quarter. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. now owns 25,230 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,001,000 after purchasing an additional 2,181 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CME has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on CME Group from $222.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Barclays increased their price target on CME Group from $225.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $229.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group cut CME Group from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $195.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $210.00 target price (down previously from $235.00) on shares of CME Group in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $215.70.

CME Group Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ CME traded up $3.40 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $213.05. 756,630 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,752,435. CME Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $175.73 and a 1 year high of $223.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $76.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.64, a PEG ratio of 5.92 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The business has a 50 day moving average of $214.26 and a two-hundred day moving average of $211.61.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The financial services provider reported $2.37 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.10. CME Group had a return on equity of 12.32% and a net margin of 57.83%. The business had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.43 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.92 earnings per share. CME Group’s revenue was up 19.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 9.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Investors 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. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.86%.

About CME Group

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.