Calamos Advisors LLC Lowers Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Calamos Advisors LLC lessened its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm 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 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of CME Group by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,085,300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,355,370,000 after purchasing an additional 108,740 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in CME Group by 0.5% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 6,913,562 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,224,597,000 after buying an additional 31,354 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in CME Group by 31.5% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,858,967 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $972,863,000 after buying an additional 1,163,103 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in CME Group by 1.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,029,771 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $806,841,000 after buying an additional 70,588 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vontobel Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in CME Group by 3.5% during the first quarter. Vontobel Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,962,053 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $814,270,000 after buying an additional 133,897 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME opened at $213.04 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. CME Group Inc. has a one year low of $175.73 and a one year high of $223.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $76.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.02, a PEG ratio of 5.94 and a beta of 0.49. The business has a fifty day moving average of $214.42 and a 200 day moving average of $211.70.

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

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a $1.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.16%. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.10. CME Group’s payout ratio is presently 51.86%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on CME Group from $222.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $229.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Barclays lifted their price objective on CME Group from $225.00 to $226.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and issued a $210.00 price target (down previously from $235.00) on shares of CME Group in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities restated a “sell” rating and issued a $180.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $215.70.

About CME Group

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.