CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Shares Purchased by Phoenix Wealth Advisors

Phoenix Wealth Advisors boosted its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 147.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,888 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,077 shares during the quarter. CME Group comprises 1.7% of Phoenix Wealth Advisors’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. Phoenix Wealth Advisors’ holdings in CME Group were worth $2,487,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at $610,482,000. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 31.5% in the third 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. PineStone Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 261.4% in the third quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,280,194 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $256,320,000 after acquiring an additional 925,939 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in CME Group by 90.0% during the second quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,218,481 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $225,771,000 after purchasing an additional 577,293 shares in the last quarter. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in CME Group by 992.8% during the first quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 623,999 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $119,508,000 after purchasing an additional 566,899 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CME Group Price Performance

NASDAQ CME traded up $0.34 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $206.82. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 417,341 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,753,226. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The company’s 50-day moving average is $214.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $211.65. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $175.73 and a fifty-two week high of $223.80. The stock has a market cap of $74.45 billion, a PE ratio of 23.28, a PEG ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 0.49.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly 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 net margin of 57.83% and a return on equity of 12.32%. The business had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.43 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.92 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 19.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 9.56 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a $1.15 dividend. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.22%. 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. CME Group’s payout ratio is 51.86%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “sell” rating and set a $180.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. 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 report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of CME Group from $225.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $229.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $222.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Two equities research 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $215.70.

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.