Lombard Odier Asset Management Switzerland SA Buys New Shares in CME Group Inc. $CME

Lombard Odier Asset Management Switzerland SA bought a new position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 4,690 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,385,000.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CME. FLC Capital Advisors acquired a new position in CME Group during the fourth quarter worth $2,122,000. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. now owns 140,210 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $38,289,000 after buying an additional 3,931 shares during the last quarter. MOKAN Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in shares of CME Group by 138.8% during the 4th quarter. MOKAN Wealth Management Inc. now owns 7,144 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,953,000 after buying an additional 4,152 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in CME Group by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 352,922 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $96,376,000 after acquiring an additional 22,692 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TD Private Client Wealth LLC grew its position in CME Group by 132.7% in the fourth quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 21,228 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,797,000 after acquiring an additional 12,105 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME stock opened at $255.36 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $253.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $281.17. The company has a market cap of $92.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.66, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.25. CME Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $218.31 and a 12 month high of $329.16.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.99 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.91 by $0.08. CME Group had a net margin of 63.30% and a return on equity of 15.60%. The company had revenue of $1.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.68 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.96 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 12.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 9th were paid a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 9th. CME Group’s payout ratio is currently 44.11%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CME Group news, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 35,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.51, for a total value of $10,447,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 55,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,606,111.30. This trade represents a 38.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 5,753 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.63, for a total transaction of $1,752,536.39. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 27,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,438,860.26. This trade represents a 17.20% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. UBS Group reduced their target price on CME Group from $310.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $320.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of CME Group from $316.00 to $270.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Bank of America upped their price target on CME Group from $226.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of CME Group from $267.00 to $245.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $291.81.

About CME Group

CME Group Inc is a global markets company that operates some of the world’s largest and most liquid derivatives exchanges, including the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) and COMEX. The firm offers futures and options contracts across a broad range of asset classes — including interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, energy, agricultural commodities and metals — and serves a diverse client base of institutional investors, commercial hedgers, brokers and retail participants.

The company’s core services include electronic trading on the CME Globex platform, central clearing through CME Clearing, and distribution of market data, indexes and analytics.