CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Short Interest Update

CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,420,000 shares, an increase of 18.2% from the March 15th total of 3,740,000 shares. Approximately 1.2% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,750,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.5 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CME has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group cut CME Group from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $195.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $210.00 price objective (down from $235.00) on shares of CME Group in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on CME Group from $222.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Barclays boosted their price target on CME Group from $225.00 to $226.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities restated a “sell” rating and issued a $180.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $215.70.

CME Group Price Performance

CME Group stock opened at $206.23 on Tuesday. CME Group has a 12 month low of $175.73 and a 12 month high of $223.80. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $214.01 and its 200-day moving average is $211.60. 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 company has a market capitalization of $74.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.25, a PEG ratio of 5.95 and a beta of 0.49.

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

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were given a $1.15 dividend. This is a boost from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.10. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.23%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is 51.86%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CME Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of CME Group by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 3,625 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $782,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its position in shares of CME Group by 5.0% during the third quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 1,032 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $207,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the period. Lantz Financial LLC increased its position in shares of CME Group by 1.1% during the first quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 4,561 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $982,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the period. Harbour Investments Inc. increased its position in shares of CME Group by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 528 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $111,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the period. Finally, Transcend Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of CME Group by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,995 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $631,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.