Victory Capital Management Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 5.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 214,269 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 10,497 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned about 0.06% of CME Group worth $45,125,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CME. Morgan Stanley lifted 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 purchasing an additional 1,163,103 shares in the last quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $113,772,000. J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group in the third quarter valued at about $86,424,000. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 31.7% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,605,211 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $321,395,000 after purchasing an additional 386,730 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 6.7% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,465,422 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $693,847,000 after purchasing an additional 217,101 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME stock opened at $207.65 on Monday. CME Group Inc. has a one year low of $175.73 and a one year high of $223.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.01. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $214.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $211.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $74.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.19 and a beta of 0.48.

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

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.10. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is 52.33%.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In other CME Group news, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.91, for a total transaction of $8,436,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 67,455 shares in the company, valued at $14,226,934.05. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on CME shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $198.00 to $206.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $222.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $187.00 price objective (up previously from $185.00) on shares of CME Group in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $226.00 to $228.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Argus boosted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, CME Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $217.80.

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.