AJOVista LLC Takes Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

AJOVista LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm acquired 270 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $57,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake 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 valued at $972,863,000 after purchasing an additional 1,163,103 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in CME Group by 1.8% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in CME Group by 4.9% during 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 purchasing an additional 172,264 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 3.6% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,579,057 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $716,604,000 after buying an additional 125,263 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its position 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 valued at $693,847,000 after buying an additional 217,101 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and set a $210.00 price objective (down from $235.00) on shares of CME Group in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Argus lifted their target price on shares of CME Group from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $226.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on CME Group from $222.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on CME Group from $198.00 to $206.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $217.80.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.91, for a total transaction of $8,436,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 67,455 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,226,934.05. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CME opened at $208.91 on Monday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $214.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $211.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $175.73 and a 52 week high of $223.80. The firm has a market cap of $75.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.62, a P/E/G ratio of 5.19 and a beta of 0.48.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.50 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 quarter last year, the company posted $2.42 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 9.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a $1.15 dividend. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.10. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.