SlateStone Wealth LLC Has $1.22 Million Stock Holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

SlateStone Wealth LLC trimmed its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 0.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,797 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 50 shares during the quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $1,221,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 31.5% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,858,967 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $972,863,000 after acquiring an additional 1,163,103 shares during the last quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc acquired a new position in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $113,772,000. J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of CME Group in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $86,424,000. Barclays PLC grew its position in shares of CME Group by 31.7% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,605,211 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $321,395,000 after purchasing an additional 386,730 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of CME Group by 6.7% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,465,422 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $693,847,000 after purchasing an additional 217,101 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on CME shares. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $180.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Argus boosted their price objective on CME Group from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on CME Group from $222.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $210.00 price target (down previously from $235.00) on shares of CME Group in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed 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 analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $215.70.

CME Group Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ CME traded up $0.36 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $215.84. The company had a trading volume of 1,049,041 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,766,726. The stock has a market capitalization of $77.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.04 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. CME Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $175.73 and a 1-year high of $223.80. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $214.59 and its 200-day moving average is $211.89.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The financial services provider reported $2.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.43 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.92 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 9.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were given a dividend of $1.15 per share. This is a boost 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 yield of 2.13%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.