AQR Capital Management LLC Acquires 117,263 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 10.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,229,566 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 117,263 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.34% of CME Group worth $240,331,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. AXA S.A. increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 70.3% in the second quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 494,604 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $97,239,000 after purchasing an additional 204,147 shares during the last quarter. Caxton Associates LP boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 16.9% during the 2nd quarter. Caxton Associates LP now owns 70,156 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $13,793,000 after buying an additional 10,156 shares during the period. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new position in CME Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,315,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd grew its stake in CME Group by 1,654.6% in the 2nd quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd now owns 72,359 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $14,226,000 after buying an additional 68,235 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fred Alger Management LLC raised its holdings in CME Group by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 92,901 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $18,264,000 after acquiring an additional 651 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of CME opened at $217.52 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $208.65 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $207.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. CME Group Inc. has a one year low of $190.70 and a one year high of $223.80. The company has a market cap of $78.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.75, a P/E/G ratio of 8.74 and a beta of 0.55.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.56 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.53 by $0.03. CME Group had a return on equity of 12.82% and a net margin of 56.98%. The company had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.53 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.30 EPS. CME Group’s revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 9.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Investors of record on Monday, September 9th were given a dividend of $1.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 9th. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.11%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.33%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CME has been the topic of several research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on CME Group from $193.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Bank of America lowered CME Group from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $212.00 to $177.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on CME Group from $212.00 to $213.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $187.00 to $191.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $208.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $209.73.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 7,593 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.59, for a total transaction of $1,629,381.87. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 55,607 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,932,706.13. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Lynne Fitzpatrick sold 754 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Sunday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.99, for a total transaction of $163,610.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 13,261 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,877,504.39. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 7,593 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.59, for a total value of $1,629,381.87. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 55,607 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,932,706.13. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.