CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Short Interest Up 18.2% in March

CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,420,000 shares, a growth of 18.2% from the March 15th total of 3,740,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,750,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.5 days. Currently, 1.2% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Argus increased their price target on CME Group from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on CME Group from $222.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “sell” rating and issued a $180.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Barclays raised their price objective on CME Group from $225.00 to $226.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $229.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $215.70.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CME Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in CME Group by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 33,451,194 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,044,821,000 after purchasing an additional 215,044 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in CME Group by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 14,589,867 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,072,654,000 after purchasing an additional 1,172,575 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in CME Group by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 12,739,369 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,683,012,000 after purchasing an additional 50,626 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of CME Group by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,085,300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,355,370,000 after buying an additional 108,740 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of CME Group by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 6,913,562 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,224,597,000 after buying an additional 31,354 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of CME opened at $206.23 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. CME Group has a 52-week low of $175.73 and a 52-week high of $223.80. The firm has a market cap of $74.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.25, a PEG ratio of 5.95 and a beta of 0.49. The business’s fifty day moving average is $214.01 and its 200-day moving average is $211.60.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The financial services provider reported $2.37 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.10. CME Group had a return on equity of 12.32% and a net margin of 57.83%. The company had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.43 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.92 EPS. CME Group’s revenue was up 19.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that CME Group will post 9.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a $1.15 dividend. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This is a boost from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.10. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.86%.

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.