CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Shares Sold by Mather Group LLC.

Mather Group LLC. trimmed its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,169 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 130 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $1,510,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in CME Group by 31.5% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,858,967 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $972,863,000 after buying an additional 1,163,103 shares in the last quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc acquired a new stake in CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at $113,772,000. J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in CME Group in the third quarter valued at $86,424,000. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 31.7% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,605,211 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $321,395,000 after purchasing an additional 386,730 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 6.7% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,465,422 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $693,847,000 after purchasing an additional 217,101 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CME Group Price Performance

CME stock opened at $209.62 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. CME Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $175.73 and a 12-month high of $223.80. The company has a market cap of $75.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.85, a PEG ratio of 5.27 and a beta of 0.49. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $214.68 and a 200-day moving average of $211.76.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.44 by $0.06. CME Group had a return on equity of 12.45% and a net margin of 56.84%. The firm had revenue of $1.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.48 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.42 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 9.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were given a dividend of $1.15 per share. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.10. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. CME Group’s payout ratio is currently 52.33%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on CME. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on CME Group from $222.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on CME Group from $222.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “sell” rating and set a $187.00 price target (up previously from $185.00) on shares of CME Group in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Barclays raised 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 report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and issued a $210.00 price objective (down previously from $235.00) on shares of CME Group in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Two investment 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.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $217.80.

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.