Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Invests $29.28 Million in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. acquired a new position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 139,030 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $29,280,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC now owns 2,848 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $600,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares during the period. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC increased its stake in CME Group by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC now owns 9,913 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,088,000 after acquiring an additional 656 shares during the period. Syon Capital LLC increased its stake in CME Group by 8.6% during the fourth quarter. Syon Capital LLC now owns 1,986 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $418,000 after acquiring an additional 158 shares during the period. Meritage Portfolio Management bought a new position in CME Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $274,000. Finally, Pittenger & Anderson Inc. increased its stake in CME Group by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 67,254 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $14,164,000 after acquiring an additional 359 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of CME traded down $1.60 on Friday, hitting $210.94. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,353,075 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,788,555. The company has a market capitalization of $75.94 billion, a PE ratio of 24.00, a PEG ratio of 5.97 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 Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $175.73 and a fifty-two week high of $223.80. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $214.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $211.90.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.44 by $0.06. CME Group had a return on equity of 12.45% and a net margin of 56.84%. The firm had revenue of $1.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.48 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.42 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 9.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 is an increase from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.18%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.33%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America boosted their price target on CME Group from $209.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on CME Group from $198.00 to $206.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on CME Group from $222.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $187.00 price objective (up from $185.00) on shares of CME Group in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $210.00 price objective (down from $235.00) on shares of CME Group in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, CME Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $217.80.

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.