Gotham Asset Management LLC Buys 50,402 Shares of CME Group Inc. $CME

Gotham Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 41.0% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 173,236 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 50,402 shares during the quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $46,807,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CME. Norges Bank bought a new stake in CME Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,571,447,000. Sanders Capital LLC acquired a new position in CME Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,006,932,000. Strive Asset Management LLC bought a new position in CME Group in the third quarter worth approximately $636,487,000. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in CME Group by 107.2% in the third quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,502,752 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $406,029,000 after acquiring an additional 777,571 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Viking Global Investors LP acquired a new stake in CME Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $164,648,000. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:CME opened at $311.40 on Monday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $295.80 and its 200 day moving average is $279.06. CME Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $248.53 and a 12-month high of $329.16. The stock has a market cap of $112.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.90, a PEG ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 0.24. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.77 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.75 by $0.02. CME Group had a return on equity of 14.65% and a net margin of 62.45%.The business had revenue of $1.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.52 EPS. CME Group’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be issued a $1.30 dividend. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 10th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.59%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Bank of America boosted their price objective on CME Group from $201.00 to $209.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on CME Group from $319.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Raymond James Financial reduced their price target on shares of CME Group from $311.00 to $310.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of CME Group from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of CME Group from $264.00 to $266.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $303.53.

Trending Headlines about CME Group

Here are the key news stories impacting CME Group this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Rothschild & Co Redburn raised its price target on CME to $347 (maintaining a “neutral” rating), implying roughly double-digit upside from recent levels and offering fresh analyst support for the shares. Rothschild Co Redburn adjusts price target on CME to 347 from 333, maintains neutral rating
• Neutral Sentiment: CME’s CEO Terry Duffy publicly warned that U.S. government intervention in oil futures markets would be highly damaging; exchanges including CME have voiced opposition to potential Treasury action. This raises policy/regulatory risk for energy derivatives but also underscores the exchange’s central role in market integrity — a factor that can support trading volumes in energy products if volatility rises. US intervention in oil futures would be ‘biblical disaster’, CME warns CME Group CEO warns against US intervention in oil futures markets US intervention in oil futures market could be disastrous: CME Group
• Neutral Sentiment: Short-interest reporting in recent feeds shows zero or nonsensical values and appears to be a data anomaly rather than a real bearish signal; treat those short-interest items with caution. (Market impact minimal until corrected.)
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: Ken Vroman (Chief Transformation Officer) sold about 5,160 shares (~$1.59M) and SEC filings show multiple recent insider sales across senior staff. While insider sales can be routine, the cadence and size may raise governance/owner-sentiment questions for some investors. CME Group’s Vroman sells $1.59 million in stock Insider Sale: Chief Transformation Officer of $CME Sells 5,160 Shares

Insider Activity

In other CME Group news, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.90, for a total value of $91,770.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 24,999 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,647,194.10. This represents a 1.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Dennis Suskind sold 748 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $224,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 2,699 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $809,700. This trade represents a 21.70% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 5,248 shares of company stock worth $1,616,700. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

About CME Group

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.