CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Shares Sold by Baird Financial Group Inc.

Baird Financial Group Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME – Get Rating) by 1.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 190,850 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,108 shares during the quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.05% of CME Group worth $33,805,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Grayhawk Investment Strategies Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Power Corp of Canada acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,000. MayTech Global Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $36,000. Covestor Ltd raised its position in shares of CME Group by 65.7% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 169 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the period. Finally, Vigilant Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of CME Group by 108.4% during the 3rd quarter. Vigilant Capital Management LLC now owns 173 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. 85.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CME has been the topic of several analyst reports. UBS Group lowered their target price on CME Group from $226.00 to $220.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 5th. Citigroup lowered their target price on CME Group from $214.29 to $210.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 12th. Credit Suisse Group raised their target price on CME Group from $192.00 to $198.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 7th. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on CME Group from $270.00 to $250.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 19th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “sell” rating and set a $161.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a research report on Thursday, February 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $219.83.

CME Group Stock Performance

CME opened at $185.37 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $66.68 billion, a PE ratio of 25.08, a P/E/G ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $180.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of $178.84. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $166.54 and a fifty-two week high of $251.99.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.21 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 10.43% and a net margin of 53.61%. The company’s revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.66 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 8.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 10th will be given a $1.10 dividend. This represents a $4.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.37%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 9th. This is a boost from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 59.54%.

CME Group Company Profile

(Get Rating)

CME Group, Inc operates a derivatives marketplace, which offers a range of futures and options products for risk management. Its exchanges offer a range of global benchmark products across all major asset classes based on interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange (FX), energy, agricultural commodities and metals.