EP Wealth Advisors LLC Decreases Stock Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

EP Wealth Advisors LLC lessened its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 10.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,223 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 148 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $258,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Capital World Investors increased its stake in CME Group by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 14,589,867 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,072,654,000 after purchasing an additional 1,172,575 shares during the period. Capital International Investors increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 12,739,369 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,683,012,000 after buying an additional 50,626 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 5,667,384 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,193,551,000 after buying an additional 23,583 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 31.5% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,858,967 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $972,863,000 after buying an additional 1,163,103 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of CME Group during the fourth quarter valued at $959,260,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CME opened at $198.49 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. The company has a market cap of $71.47 billion, a PE ratio of 22.58, a P/E/G ratio of 5.20 and a beta of 0.52. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $206.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $209.48. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $177.97 and a fifty-two week high of $223.80.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.44 by $0.06. CME Group had a return on equity of 12.45% and a net margin of 56.84%. The business had revenue of $1.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.48 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.42 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 9.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 25th. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th will be issued a dividend of $1.15 per share. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.33%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Argus raised their price target on CME Group from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and set a $210.00 price target (down previously from $235.00) on shares of CME Group in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on CME Group from $222.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on CME Group from $198.00 to $206.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on CME Group from $209.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $217.80.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Charles P. Carey sold 3,000 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.44, for a total transaction of $586,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 7,163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,399,936.72. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director Charles P. Carey sold 3,000 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.44, for a total transaction of $586,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 7,163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,399,936.72. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Daniel R. Glickman sold 650 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.44, for a total value of $130,936.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 14,008 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,821,771.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 54,290 shares of company stock valued at $11,393,700 over the last quarter. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.