Alpha Cubed Investments LLC Boosts Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Alpha Cubed Investments LLC increased its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 6.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 219,098 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,029 shares during the period. CME Group makes up approximately 2.6% of Alpha Cubed Investments LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC owned approximately 0.06% of CME Group worth $46,142,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in CME Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC grew 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 valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA bought a new position in CME Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $37,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in CME Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Atticus Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in CME Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $40,000. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on CME. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of CME Group from $209.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. 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. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “sell” rating and issued a $187.00 target price (up previously from $185.00) on shares of CME Group in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Argus raised their target price on shares of CME Group from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of CME Group from $198.00 to $206.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $217.80.

CME Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ CME traded up $0.02 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $209.64. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,394,434 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,778,121. CME Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $175.73 and a 12 month high of $223.80. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $214.68 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $211.76. The company has a market cap of $75.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.27 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $1.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.48 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 12.45% and a net margin of 56.84%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.42 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 9.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a dividend of $1.15 per share. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.10. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. CME Group’s payout ratio is currently 52.33%.

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.