GAMMA Investing LLC Takes $351,000 Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 1,705 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $351,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of CME Group in the third quarter worth $25,000. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC increased its position in CME Group by 966.7% during the fourth quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 160 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA acquired a new position in CME Group during the third quarter worth $37,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in CME Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Atticus Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in CME Group during the third quarter valued at about $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME Group stock opened at $212.59 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The firm has a market cap of $76.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.97, a P/E/G ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 0.49. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $214.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $211.93. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $175.73 and a fifty-two week high of $223.80.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The financial services provider reported $2.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.43 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 57.83% and a return on equity of 12.32%. CME Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.92 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 9.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a dividend of $1.15 per share. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.16%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.10. CME Group’s payout ratio is currently 51.86%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of CME Group from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $195.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. Argus raised their price target on shares of CME Group from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of CME Group from $222.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating and set a $229.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and set a $210.00 price target (down previously from $235.00) on shares of CME Group in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $216.40.

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.