PDS Planning Inc Has $473,000 Holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

PDS Planning Inc grew its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 6.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,248 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 132 shares during the quarter. PDS Planning Inc’s holdings in CME Group were worth $473,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in CME Group by 31.5% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,858,967 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $972,863,000 after purchasing an additional 1,163,103 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in CME Group by 1.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,029,771 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $806,841,000 after purchasing an additional 70,588 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in CME Group by 4.9% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,668,138 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $734,435,000 after purchasing an additional 172,264 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in CME Group by 3.6% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,579,057 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $716,604,000 after purchasing an additional 125,263 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on CME shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating and set a $229.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Argus upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Barclays upped their price target 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. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $180.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $210.00 price target (down from $235.00) on shares of CME Group in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $215.70.

CME Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CME traded up $0.57 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $216.05. 554,796 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,760,066. CME Group Inc. has a one year low of $175.73 and a one year high of $223.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $77.78 billion, a PE ratio of 24.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.04 and a beta of 0.49. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $214.59 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $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 (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The financial services provider reported $2.37 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.10. CME Group had a net margin of 57.83% and a return on equity of 12.32%. The business had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.43 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.92 earnings per share. CME Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 9.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.13%. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.10. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.