Eudaimonia Advisors LLC Raises Stock Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Eudaimonia Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 1.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,443 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. Eudaimonia Advisors LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $936,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CME. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings 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. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,029,771 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $806,841,000 after acquiring an additional 70,588 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,668,138 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $734,435,000 after acquiring an additional 172,264 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,579,057 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $716,604,000 after acquiring an additional 125,263 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 217,101 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of CME stock traded up $1.29 on Tuesday, reaching $216.77. 2,048,251 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,779,931. The company has a market cap of $78.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.44, a P/E/G ratio of 6.04 and a beta of 0.49. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $214.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $211.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. CME Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $175.73 and a 1 year high of $223.80.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The financial services provider reported $2.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.10. CME Group had a net margin of 57.83% and a return on equity of 12.32%. The company had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.43 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.92 EPS. CME Group’s revenue was up 19.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 9.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of CME Group from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $195.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Argus lifted their price objective 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $229.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “sell” rating and set a $180.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $225.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $215.70.

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.