Buckhead Capital Management LLC Sells 927 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Buckhead Capital Management LLC lowered its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 4.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,292 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 927 shares during the quarter. CME Group makes up about 1.5% of Buckhead Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Buckhead Capital Management LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $4,063,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 31.5% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,858,967 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $972,863,000 after purchasing an additional 1,163,103 shares in the last quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc purchased a new position in shares of CME Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $113,772,000. J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of CME Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $86,424,000. Barclays PLC raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 31.7% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,605,211 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $321,395,000 after buying an additional 386,730 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,465,422 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $693,847,000 after buying an additional 217,101 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Trading Down 0.7 %

CME traded down $1.57 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $208.07. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,868,876 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,779,201. 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 $74.90 billion, a PE ratio of 23.85, a P/E/G ratio of 5.24 and a beta of 0.49. The business’s 50-day moving average is $214.65 and its 200-day moving average is $211.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $1.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.48 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 12.45% and a net margin of 56.84%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.42 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 9.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were given a $1.15 dividend. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.21%. CME Group’s payout ratio is presently 52.33%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on CME. Bank of America lifted their price target on CME Group from $209.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Barclays lifted their price target on CME Group from $226.00 to $228.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on CME Group from $198.00 to $206.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Argus lifted their price objective on CME Group from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on CME Group from $222.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Two investment 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.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $217.80.

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.