Congress Wealth Management LLC DE Increases Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Congress Wealth Management LLC DE increased its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 2.2% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 110,181 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,423 shares during the period. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE’s holdings in CME Group were worth $23,721,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Gold Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Northwest Financial Advisors acquired a new stake in CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of CME Group by 966.7% during the fourth quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 160 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Atticus Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in CME Group during the 3rd quarter worth $40,000. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Charles P. Carey sold 3,000 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.44, for a total value of $586,320.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 7,163 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,399,936.72. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other CME Group news, Director Charles P. Carey sold 3,000 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.44, for a total transaction of $586,320.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 7,163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,399,936.72. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Daniel R. Glickman sold 650 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.44, for a total transaction of $130,936.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 14,008 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,821,771.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 54,290 shares of company stock worth $11,393,700 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Price Performance

CME stock traded down $1.10 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $195.50. 2,092,504 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,902,649. The company has a market cap of $70.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.18 and a beta of 0.52. CME Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $180.11 and a 12-month high of $223.80. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $205.30 and its 200 day moving average is $208.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $1.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.48 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 56.84% and a return on equity of 12.45%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.42 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 9.75 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th were paid a dividend of $1.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 7th. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.35%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.33%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on CME shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded CME Group from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $206.00 to $187.00 in a report on Friday, June 21st. Bank of America upped their target price on CME Group from $209.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “sell” rating and set a $187.00 price target (up previously from $185.00) on shares of CME Group in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $210.00 target price (down previously from $235.00) on shares of CME Group in a report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $222.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $215.90.

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.