Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC Boosts Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

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

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. RB Capital Management LLC grew its stake in CME Group by 11.4% in the 1st quarter. RB Capital Management LLC now owns 1,419 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $338,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares during the period. Prudential PLC acquired a new stake in CME Group during the 1st quarter worth $1,709,000. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its stake in CME Group by 5.8% during the 1st 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 during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in CME Group during the 1st quarter worth $281,000. Finally, Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. boosted its stake in CME Group by 9.5% during the 1st 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 during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on CME. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of CME Group from $222.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of CME Group from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $195.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of CME Group from $225.00 to $226.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “sell” rating and set a $180.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $229.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Two investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, CME Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $215.70.

CME Group Stock Up 1.6 %

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

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

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were given a dividend of $1.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.10. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.16%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.86%.

CME Group 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.