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

Sentry Investment Management LLC lowered its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 9.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm 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 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its stake in CME Group by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 1,032 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $207,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. West Family Investments Inc. raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. West Family Investments Inc. now owns 1,503 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $278,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC now owns 3,022 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $605,000 after buying an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $280,000 after buying an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 15,841 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,243,000 after buying an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CME has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and issued a $210.00 price objective (down previously from $235.00) on shares of CME Group in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “sell” rating and issued a $180.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Argus increased their price target 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 target 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, The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of CME Group from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $195.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $215.70.

CME Group Trading Down 1.6 %

CME stock opened at $206.23 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $214.01 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $211.60. CME Group Inc. has a one year low of $175.73 and a one year high of $223.80. The stock has a market cap of $74.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.95 and a beta of 0.49.

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

CME Group Increases Dividend

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

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.