Westfield Capital Management Co. LP Boosts Stake in CME Group Inc. $CME

Westfield Capital Management Co. LP raised its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 15.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 21,785 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,944 shares during the quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP’s holdings in CME Group were worth $5,949,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Asset Dedication LLC grew its stake in CME Group by 64.9% in the 4th quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 94 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC bought a new position in CME Group in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID grew its stake in CME Group by 191.9% in the 4th quarter. Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID now owns 108 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates grew its stake in CME Group by 1,250.0% in the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 108 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Anfield Capital Management LLC grew its stake in CME Group by 197.4% in the 4th quarter. Anfield Capital Management LLC now owns 113 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on CME. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on shares of CME Group from $342.00 to $322.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of CME Group from $275.00 to $267.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Rothschild & Co Redburn dropped their target price on shares of CME Group from $340.00 to $316.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Argus restated a “hold” rating on shares of CME Group in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $310.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a research note on Friday, February 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $305.29.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 5,753 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.63, for a total transaction of $1,752,536.39. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 27,702 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,438,860.26. This trade represents a 17.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus sold 3,291 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $333.37, for a total transaction of $1,097,120.67. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel owned 7,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,397,597.04. This trade represents a 31.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 44,044 shares of company stock worth $13,297,507. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Price Performance

NASDAQ CME opened at $257.40 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $288.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $288.60. CME Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $244.56 and a 52-week high of $329.16. The company has a market cap of $93.27 billion, a PE ratio of 21.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.21.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.11 by $0.25. CME Group had a net margin of 63.19% and a return on equity of 15.42%. The firm had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.77 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.80 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 12.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 9th will be paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 9th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.37%.

CME Group Company Profile

CME Group Inc is a global markets company that operates some of the world’s largest and most liquid derivatives exchanges, including the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) and COMEX. The firm offers futures and options contracts across a broad range of asset classes — including interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, energy, agricultural commodities and metals — and serves a diverse client base of institutional investors, commercial hedgers, brokers and retail participants.

The company’s core services include electronic trading on the CME Globex platform, central clearing through CME Clearing, and distribution of market data, indexes and analytics.