Yousif Capital Management LLC Sells 2,697 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Yousif Capital Management LLC decreased its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 4.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 53,908 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,697 shares during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $11,353,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 31.5% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,858,967 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $972,863,000 after acquiring an additional 1,163,103 shares during the last quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc purchased a new position in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $113,772,000. J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in CME Group during the third quarter worth approximately $86,424,000. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in CME Group by 31.7% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,605,211 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $321,395,000 after purchasing an additional 386,730 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its position in CME Group by 6.7% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,465,422 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $693,847,000 after buying an additional 217,101 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of CME Group stock traded down $4.18 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $212.59. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,630,812 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,780,934. The firm has a market capitalization of $76.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.85, a PEG ratio of 6.06 and a beta of 0.49. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $214.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $211.92. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. CME Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $175.73 and a 1-year high of $223.80.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The financial services provider reported $2.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 quarter last year, the firm earned $1.92 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 9.58 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were given a dividend of $1.15 per share. This is a boost from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.16%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.86%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on CME. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $180.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Argus increased their price target on CME Group from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $229.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group cut CME Group from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $195.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $215.70.

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.