RWA Wealth Partners LLC Buys 15,540 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

RWA Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 1,067.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 16,996 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 15,540 shares during the quarter. RWA Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $3,579,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of CME. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 31.5% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,858,967 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $972,863,000 after acquiring an additional 1,163,103 shares during the last quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc bought a new position in CME Group during the fourth quarter valued at $113,772,000. J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in CME Group during the third quarter valued at $86,424,000. Barclays PLC lifted its position in CME Group by 31.7% during 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in CME Group by 6.7% during 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Argus increased 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. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of CME Group from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $195.00 target price for the company. in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. 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 report on Monday, April 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $229.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and issued a $210.00 target price (down previously from $235.00) on shares of CME Group in a report on Friday, April 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $215.70.

CME Group Trading Up 1.1 %

NASDAQ CME opened at $215.48 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The company has a market capitalization of $77.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.04 and a beta of 0.49. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $214.59 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $211.89. CME Group Inc. has a one year low of $175.73 and a one year high of $223.80.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The financial services provider reported $2.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.10. CME Group had a net margin of 57.83% and a return on equity of 12.32%. The firm had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.43 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.92 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 19.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 9.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were given a $1.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.13%. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.10. CME Group’s payout ratio is presently 51.86%.

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.