Everence Capital Management Inc. Boosts Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Everence Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 17.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,120 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,930 shares during the period. Everence Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $2,763,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in CME Group by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,085,300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,355,370,000 after buying an additional 108,740 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in CME Group by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 6,913,562 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,224,597,000 after acquiring an additional 31,354 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its position in CME Group by 31.5% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,858,967 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $972,863,000 after acquiring an additional 1,163,103 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in CME Group by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,029,771 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $806,841,000 after acquiring an additional 70,588 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vontobel Asset Management Inc. grew its position in CME Group by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. Vontobel Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,962,053 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $814,270,000 after acquiring an additional 133,897 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on CME. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and set a $210.00 price objective (down from $235.00) on shares of CME Group in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on CME Group from $222.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued 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 downgraded CME Group from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $195.00 price target for the company. in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Finally, Argus boosted their price objective on CME Group from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $215.70.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of CME traded up $0.25 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $206.48. The company had a trading volume of 1,151,671 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,772,182. The company’s 50-day moving average is $214.01 and its 200-day moving average is $211.60. CME Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $175.73 and a twelve month high of $223.80. The company has a market capitalization of $74.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.34, a P/E/G ratio of 5.95 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

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

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were given a $1.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.23%. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.10. CME Group’s 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.