Congress Asset Management Co. Purchases 7,444 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Congress Asset Management Co. raised its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 11.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 71,763 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 7,444 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co.'s holdings in CME Group were worth $16,665,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CME. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 1.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,284,745 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,823,964,000 after purchasing an additional 142,692 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 17.8% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,514,040 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $554,707,000 after purchasing an additional 380,071 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 70.4% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,427,107 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $544,157,000 after purchasing an additional 1,003,119 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its position in shares of CME Group by 11.9% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 2,230,100 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $492,072,000 after buying an additional 237,800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in CME Group by 1.4% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,981,961 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $437,320,000 after purchasing an additional 26,642 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on CME shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of CME Group from $256.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 11th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $236.13.

CME Group Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of CME traded down $2.43 on Thursday, hitting $248.32. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,248,663 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,809,892. The firm has a market capitalization of $89.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.68, a P/E/G ratio of 6.77 and a beta of 0.57. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $190.70 and a fifty-two week high of $253.53. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $236.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $226.85.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.46 by $0.06. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.62% and a net margin of 57.52%. On average, equities research analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.45 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $1.25 per share. This is a boost from CME Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. CME Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.57%.

CME Group declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, December 5th that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to buy up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other CME Group news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total value of $2,888,378.64. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 21,885 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,453,085.45. This trade represents a 34.63 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

CME Group 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.