CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Shares Sold by Calamos Advisors LLC

Calamos Advisors LLC trimmed its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 1.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 42,984 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 561 shares during the quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $9,052,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of CME. RB Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in CME Group by 11.4% in the 1st quarter. RB Capital Management LLC now owns 1,419 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $338,000 after buying an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. Prudential PLC purchased a new position in CME Group in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,709,000. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in CME Group by 5.8% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 3,485 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $829,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in CME Group in the 1st quarter worth approximately $281,000. Finally, Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. lifted its stake in CME Group by 9.5% in the 1st quarter. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. now owns 25,230 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,001,000 after purchasing an additional 2,181 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CME has been the topic of a number of research reports. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $180.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of CME Group from $225.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of CME Group from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $195.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of CME Group from $222.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $229.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $215.70.

CME Group Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ CME opened at $213.04 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $76.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.02, a PEG ratio of 5.94 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. CME Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $175.73 and a 52-week high of $223.80. The business’s 50 day moving average is $214.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $211.70.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The financial services provider reported $2.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.43 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 12.32% and a net margin of 57.83%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 19.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.92 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 9.57 EPS for the current 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 2.16%. CME Group’s payout ratio is presently 51.86%.

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.