Sawgrass Asset Management LLC Makes New $211,000 Investment in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Sawgrass Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 909 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $211,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new position in CME Group in the third quarter worth about $26,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. raised its position in CME Group by 570.6% during the fourth quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the period. Dunhill Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of CME Group by 188.4% in the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 124 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Financial Life Planners purchased a new position in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its position in shares of CME Group by 120.3% during the 4th quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 152 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CME has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Oppenheimer raised their price target on CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Citigroup lowered shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of CME Group from $260.00 to $256.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $257.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $234.07.

CME Group Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ CME opened at $250.11 on Friday. CME Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $190.70 and a twelve month high of $253.53. The firm has a market cap of $90.13 billion, a PE ratio of 26.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.57. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $235.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $225.08. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.46 by $0.06. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.39% and a net margin of 57.34%. Analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.00%. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. CME Group’s payout ratio is currently 48.37%.

CME Group declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, December 5th that allows the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

CME Group Company 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.