Xponance Inc. Boosts Stock Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Xponance Inc. lifted its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 4.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 46,684 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,989 shares during the quarter. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $9,832,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in CME Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $610,482,000. Morgan Stanley increased its position in CME Group by 31.5% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,858,967 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $972,863,000 after buying an additional 1,163,103 shares in the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. increased its position in CME Group by 261.4% during the 3rd quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,280,194 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $256,320,000 after buying an additional 925,939 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its position in CME Group by 90.0% during the 2nd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,218,481 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $225,771,000 after buying an additional 577,293 shares in the last quarter. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. increased its position in CME Group by 992.8% during the 1st quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 623,999 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $119,508,000 after buying an additional 566,899 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on CME shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $229.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered CME Group from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $195.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Barclays raised their price objective on CME Group from $225.00 to $226.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Argus raised their price objective on CME Group from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $210.00 target price (down from $235.00) on shares of CME Group in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, CME Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $215.70.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME stock traded up $1.98 on Friday, reaching $211.63. The stock had a trading volume of 129,910 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,744,534. The stock has a market cap of $76.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.92 and a beta of 0.49. CME Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $175.73 and a 1 year high of $223.80. 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 company has a 50 day simple moving average of $214.26 and a 200 day simple moving average of $211.61.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The financial services provider reported $2.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.43 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 12.32% and a net margin of 57.83%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.92 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 9.56 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a $1.15 dividend. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.10. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.