Cwm LLC Boosts Holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Cwm LLC raised its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 12.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,289 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,312 shares during the quarter. Cwm LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $4,483,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 42,413 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,932,000 after purchasing an additional 946 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 7.8% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 5,394 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,136,000 after purchasing an additional 392 shares during the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 14.1% during the 4th quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 10,838 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,282,000 after purchasing an additional 1,336 shares during the last quarter. abrdn plc boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 15.6% during the 4th quarter. abrdn plc now owns 693,580 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $146,068,000 after purchasing an additional 93,713 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 4th quarter worth about $502,000. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CME has been the topic of several analyst reports. Argus raised their price target on shares of CME Group from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of CME Group from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $195.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Barclays raised their target price on shares of CME Group from $225.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $229.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised 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 report on Tuesday, April 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $215.70.

CME Group Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of CME stock opened at $216.77 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $78.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.44, 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 fifty-two week low of $175.73 and a fifty-two week high of $223.80. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $214.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $211.92.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced 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. 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%. CME Group’s revenue was up 19.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.92 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 9.57 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a dividend of $1.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.12%. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.10. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.86%.

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.