CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Position Increased by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. increased its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 0.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 987,238 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,084 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. owned 0.27% of CME Group worth $207,912,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $274,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $4,591,000. MV Capital Management Inc. increased its position in CME Group by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 9,775 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,059,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the period. Atlas Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $253,000. Finally, Aquila Investment Management LLC increased its position in CME Group by 100.0% in the 4th quarter. Aquila Investment Management LLC now owns 6,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,264,000 after acquiring an additional 3,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on CME shares. Argus raised their target price on CME Group from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “sell” rating and set a $180.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on CME Group from $222.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut CME Group from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $195.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $210.00 price target (down from $235.00) on shares of CME Group in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $215.70.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME stock opened at $209.50 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $75.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.62, a P/E/G ratio of 5.95 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 current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $213.98 and its 200-day simple moving average is $211.57.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The financial services provider reported $2.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $1.44 billion during 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.92 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 9.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 an increase from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.10. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.20%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.86%.

CME Group Company 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.