Pittenger & Anderson Inc. Increases Position in CME Group Inc. $CME

Pittenger & Anderson Inc. raised its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 3.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 70,702 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,123 shares during the period. Pittenger & Anderson Inc.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $19,307,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Caldwell Trust Co boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 116.3% in the 3rd quarter. Caldwell Trust Co now owns 93 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Asset Dedication LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 64.9% in the 4th quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 94 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA acquired a new position in shares of CME Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Financial Consulate Inc. acquired a new position in shares of CME Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. 87.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other CME Group news, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 4,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.65, for a total transaction of $1,300,530.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 43,007 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,317,117.55. This trade represents a 8.90% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.90, for a total transaction of $91,770.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 24,999 shares in the company, valued at $7,647,194.10. The trade was a 1.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 8,539 shares of company stock valued at $2,713,821. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on CME shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods started coverage on shares of CME Group in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $305.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on shares of CME Group from $295.00 to $302.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of CME Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of CME Group from $275.00 to $267.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Argus restated a “hold” rating on shares of CME Group in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $305.29.

CME Group Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of CME Group stock opened at $289.54 on Friday. CME Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $257.17 and a 1 year high of $329.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.02. The company has a market capitalization of $104.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.70, a PEG ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 0.23. The company’s fifty day moving average is $303.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $286.68.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.11 by $0.25. CME Group had a net margin of 63.19% and a return on equity of 15.42%. The company had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.77 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.80 EPS. CME Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 12.26 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th were given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 10th. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. CME Group’s payout ratio is 44.37%.

CME Group Profile

CME Group Inc is a global markets company that operates some of the world’s largest and most liquid derivatives exchanges, including the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) and COMEX. The firm offers futures and options contracts across a broad range of asset classes — including interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, energy, agricultural commodities and metals — and serves a diverse client base of institutional investors, commercial hedgers, brokers and retail participants.

The company’s core services include electronic trading on the CME Globex platform, central clearing through CME Clearing, and distribution of market data, indexes and analytics.