Salem Investment Counselors Inc. Buys 94 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Salem Investment Counselors Inc. grew its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 67.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 234 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 94 shares during the period. Salem Investment Counselors Inc.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $50,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CME. Gold Investment Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of CME Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Northwest Financial Advisors bought a new position in CME Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC raised its stake in CME Group by 966.7% in the fourth quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 160 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in CME Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Atticus Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in CME Group in the third quarter worth approximately $40,000. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on CME. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued 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. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $226.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Argus lifted their price target on shares of CME Group from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of CME Group from $222.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “sell” rating and issued a $187.00 price target (up from $185.00) on shares of CME Group in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, CME Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $215.90.

Insider Activity

In other CME Group news, Director Daniel R. Glickman sold 650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.44, for a total value of $130,936.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 14,008 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,821,771.52. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other CME Group news, Director Daniel R. Glickman sold 650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.44, for a total value of $130,936.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 14,008 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,821,771.52. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.91, for a total transaction of $8,436,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 67,455 shares in the company, valued at $14,226,934.05. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 54,290 shares of company stock valued at $11,393,700 over the last ninety days. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of CME opened at $194.48 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $70.03 billion, a PE ratio of 22.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.25 and a beta of 0.52. 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 Inc. has a 1-year low of $177.97 and a 1-year high of $223.80. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $206.64 and its 200-day moving average price is $209.20.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.50 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $1.48 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 56.84% and a return on equity of 12.45%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.42 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 9.72 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be issued a dividend of $1.15 per share. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.33%.

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.