Fielder Capital Group LLC Buys New Shares in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Fielder Capital Group LLC purchased a new position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 1,054 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $222,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CME. Naples Global Advisors LLC raised its holdings in CME Group by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Naples Global Advisors LLC now owns 2,072 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $436,000 after buying an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Sapient Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of CME Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,823,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter worth about $1,074,000. Deutsche Bank AG grew its stake in shares of CME Group by 4.3% in the third quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,118,104 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $223,867,000 after purchasing an additional 46,021 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in CME Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,986,000. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on CME shares. Argus increased their price objective on CME Group from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of CME Group from $209.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $222.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $210.00 target price (down from $235.00) on shares of CME Group in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “sell” rating and set a $187.00 price target (up previously from $185.00) on shares of CME Group in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, CME Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $217.80.

CME Group Stock Up 0.2 %

CME traded up $0.35 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $208.00. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,722,488 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,783,085. CME Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $175.73 and a 1 year high of $223.80. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $213.87 and its 200-day moving average is $211.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $74.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.66, a PEG ratio of 5.19 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.48 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.42 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 9.72 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 paid a $1.15 dividend. This is a boost from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.10. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.21%. CME Group’s payout ratio is presently 52.33%.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In other news, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.91, for a total transaction of $8,436,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 67,455 shares in the company, valued at $14,226,934.05. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.