Viking Fund Management LLC Sells 1,400 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Viking Fund Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 5.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 25,000 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 1,400 shares during the quarter. Viking Fund Management LLC's holdings in CME Group were worth $6,632,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 108.7% in the fourth quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 12,390 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,949,000 after purchasing an additional 6,453 shares in the last quarter. Unified Investment Management bought a new position in shares of CME Group during the 4th quarter worth about $503,000. Spire Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 37.4% during the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 1,320 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $307,000 after acquiring an additional 359 shares in the last quarter. Aspire Growth Partners LLC bought a new stake in CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $548,000. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in CME Group by 18.8% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,169,999 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $503,939,000 after purchasing an additional 343,498 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CME Group Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of CME Group stock traded down $2.98 during trading on Thursday, reaching $274.90. 1,957,764 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,349,492. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $271.26 and a 200-day moving average price of $252.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $99.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.43, a P/E/G ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. CME Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $190.70 and a twelve month high of $290.79.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.61 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $1.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.56 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.62% and a net margin of 57.52%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.50 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other CME Group news, Director Howard J. Siegel sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total value of $2,600,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 21,873 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,686,980. The trade was a 31.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Larry G. Gerdes sold 2,000 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.10, for a total value of $528,200.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 38,651 shares in the company, valued at $10,207,729.10. This trade represents a 4.92% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 22,900 shares of company stock valued at $6,147,935. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Bank of America upped their price target on CME Group from $200.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. UBS Group increased their price target on CME Group from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a $269.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Raymond James upgraded CME Group from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $287.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of CME Group from $223.00 to $211.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $258.20.

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.