Meritage Portfolio Management Acquires New Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Meritage Portfolio Management bought a new position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 1,300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $274,000.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of CME Group in the third quarter valued at $25,000. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC lifted its position in CME Group by 966.7% during the fourth quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 160 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA purchased a new position in shares of CME Group in the 3rd quarter worth $37,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Atticus Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 3rd quarter worth about $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “sell” rating and set a $187.00 price objective (up from $185.00) on shares of CME Group in a research report on Thursday. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $209.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on CME Group from $198.00 to $206.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. Barclays increased 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 note on Thursday. Finally, Argus lifted their target price on CME Group from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $217.80.

CME Group Stock Down 0.8 %

CME Group stock opened at $210.94 on Friday. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $175.73 and a fifty-two week high of $223.80. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $214.73 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $211.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.01. The company has a market cap of $75.94 billion, a PE ratio of 24.00, a PEG ratio of 5.92 and a beta of 0.49.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.50 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $1.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.48 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.42 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 9.67 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.18%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.10. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 52.33%.

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.