Sentry Investment Management LLC Sells 137 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Sentry Investment Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 7.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,750 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 137 shares during the quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $344,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CME. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its stake in CME Group by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 3,625 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $782,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its position in CME Group by 4.3% during the 1st quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 1,160 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $250,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Lantz Financial LLC increased its stake in CME Group by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 4,561 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $982,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Lester Murray Antman dba SimplyRich raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 0.7% in the second quarter. Lester Murray Antman dba SimplyRich now owns 7,667 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,507,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Greystone Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of CME Group by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Greystone Financial Group LLC now owns 3,282 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $691,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In related news, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 7,593 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.59, for a total value of $1,629,381.87. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 55,607 shares in the company, valued at $11,932,706.13. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on CME shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on CME Group from $187.00 to $191.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of CME Group from $212.00 to $213.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of CME Group from $193.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Bank of America lowered shares of CME Group from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $212.00 to $177.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, CME Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $209.73.

CME Group Price Performance

NASDAQ:CME opened at $218.59 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $204.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $207.62. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $190.70 and a 52 week high of $223.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $78.71 billion, a PE ratio of 24.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.92 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.53 by $0.03. CME Group had a return on equity of 12.82% and a net margin of 56.98%. The company had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.53 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.30 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 9.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Investors of record on Monday, September 9th will be given a dividend of $1.15 per share. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.10%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 9th. CME Group’s payout ratio is currently 52.33%.

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.