Congress Asset Management Co. Sells 2,051 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Congress Asset Management Co. cut its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 2.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 69,712 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 2,051 shares during the quarter. Congress Asset Management Co.'s holdings in CME Group were worth $18,494,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 108.7% in the 4th quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 12,390 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,949,000 after buying an additional 6,453 shares during the last quarter. Unified Investment Management purchased a new position in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter worth $503,000. Aspire Growth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter worth $548,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 18.8% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,169,999 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $503,939,000 after buying an additional 343,498 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sentinel Trust Co. LBA purchased a new position in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter worth $368,000. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America raised their price target on CME Group from $200.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Piper Sandler raised their target price on CME Group from $275.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on CME Group from $301.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on CME Group from $265.00 to $273.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Raymond James raised CME Group from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $287.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, March 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $258.20.

CME Group Price Performance

NASDAQ:CME opened at $274.24 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $271.69 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $253.09. The stock has a market cap of $98.82 billion, a PE ratio of 28.36, a P/E/G ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.45. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $190.70 and a 52 week high of $290.79.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.61 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $1.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.56 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.62% and a net margin of 57.52%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.50 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be issued a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.82%. CME Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 50.30%.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other news, Director Daniel G. Kaye sold 500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.42, for a total transaction of $141,210.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,668 shares in the company, valued at $1,035,916.56. This trade represents a 12.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Phyllis M. Lockett sold 1,060 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $277.88, for a total value of $294,552.80. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,108 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $863,651.04. The trade was a 25.43% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 22,900 shares of company stock valued at $6,147,935 over the last ninety days. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.

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