Sentry Investment Management LLC Has $397,000 Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Sentry Investment Management LLC cut its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 9.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,887 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 203 shares during the quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $397,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Naples Global Advisors LLC increased its stake in CME Group by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Naples Global Advisors LLC now owns 2,072 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $436,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Sapient Capital LLC acquired a new stake in CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at $1,823,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at $1,074,000. Deutsche Bank AG raised its position in shares of CME Group by 4.3% in the third quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,118,104 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $223,867,000 after purchasing an additional 46,021 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,986,000. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on CME. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of CME Group from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $195.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $225.00 to $226.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Argus increased their price objective on shares of 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 increased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $222.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $215.70.

CME Group Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of CME Group stock opened at $206.23 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization 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 company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. CME Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $175.73 and a 12-month high of $223.80. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $214.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $211.60.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The financial services provider reported $2.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.43 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 57.83% and a return on equity of 12.32%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.92 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 9.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

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

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.