Ceredex Value Advisors LLC Acquires Shares of 57,600 CME Group Inc. $CME

Ceredex Value Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 57,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $15,563,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CME. Caldwell Trust Co raised its position in CME Group by 116.3% in the 3rd quarter. Caldwell Trust Co now owns 93 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA acquired a new position in CME Group during the third quarter worth $27,000. Financial Consulate Inc. purchased a new position in shares of CME Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Sagard Holdings Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Corundum Trust Company INC acquired a new position in shares of CME Group during the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. 87.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CME opened at $319.09 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. CME Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $248.53 and a 52-week high of $329.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $115.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.59, a PEG ratio of 3.69 and a beta of 0.24. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $292.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $278.00.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.77 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.75 by $0.02. CME Group had a return on equity of 14.65% and a net margin of 62.45%.The firm had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.52 earnings per share. CME Group’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be paid a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 10th. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.80%.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other CME Group news, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $269.55, for a total value of $6,738,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 65,804 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,737,468.20. This trade represents a 27.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director William R. Shepard purchased 251 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 30th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $278.37 per share, with a total value of $69,870.87. Following the purchase, the director owned 258,710 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $72,017,102.70. This trade represents a 0.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 30,248 shares of company stock worth $8,355,450. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on CME shares. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $310.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a research report on Friday, February 6th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on CME Group from $305.00 to $328.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Erste Group Bank upgraded CME Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Bank of America upped their target price on CME Group from $201.00 to $209.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on CME Group from $264.00 to $266.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $302.71.

CME Group Profile

CME Group Inc is a global markets company that operates some of the world’s largest and most liquid derivatives exchanges, including the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) and COMEX. The firm offers futures and options contracts across a broad range of asset classes — including interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, energy, agricultural commodities and metals — and serves a diverse client base of institutional investors, commercial hedgers, brokers and retail participants.

The company’s core services include electronic trading on the CME Globex platform, central clearing through CME Clearing, and distribution of market data, indexes and analytics.