International Assets Investment Management LLC Invests $27.99 Million in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 132,889 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $27,986,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bleakley Financial Group LLC grew its position in CME Group by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 11,669 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,458,000 after purchasing an additional 719 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 4,852 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,022,000 after buying an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Wakefield Asset Management LLLP raised its position in CME Group by 53.7% during the fourth quarter. Wakefield Asset Management LLLP now owns 2,031 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $428,000 after buying an additional 710 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in CME Group by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 105,207 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $22,157,000 after acquiring an additional 1,206 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Souders Financial Advisors boosted its position in CME Group by 18.2% during the 4th quarter. Souders Financial Advisors now owns 20,624 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,343,000 after acquiring an additional 3,170 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on CME shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of CME Group from $222.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of CME Group from $226.00 to $228.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “sell” rating and set a $187.00 price objective (up from $185.00) on shares of CME Group in a report on Thursday, April 25th. 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. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $210.00 price target (down from $235.00) on shares of CME Group in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $217.80.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In other CME Group news, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.91, for a total value of $8,436,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 67,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,226,934.05. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Up 0.1 %

CME opened at $207.65 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $74.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.20 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.01. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $214.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $211.64. CME Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $175.73 and a twelve month high of $223.80.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $1.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.48 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 56.84% and a return on equity of 12.45%. CME Group’s revenue was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.42 EPS. Research analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 9.72 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 an increase from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.10. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.22%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. CME Group’s payout ratio is currently 52.33%.

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.