Valley National Advisers Inc. Has $293,000 Holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 57.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,368 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 501 shares during the quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $293,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 0.3% in the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 989,765 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $213,086,000 after purchasing an additional 2,527 shares in the last quarter. Saxon Interests Inc. boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 10.1% during the 1st quarter. Saxon Interests Inc. now owns 5,009 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,078,000 after buying an additional 459 shares during the last quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 5.6% in the 1st quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 10,318 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,221,000 after acquiring an additional 543 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its position in shares of CME Group by 4.3% in the first quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 1,160 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $250,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Congress Wealth Management LLC DE raised its holdings in CME Group by 2.2% during the first quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE now owns 110,181 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $23,721,000 after acquiring an additional 2,423 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CME Group Price Performance

CME Group stock opened at $196.06 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $70.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.30, a PEG ratio of 5.20 and a beta of 0.52. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $204.50 and its 200-day moving average is $208.41. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. CME Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $180.11 and a 12 month high of $223.80.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by $0.06. CME Group had a return on equity of 12.45% and a net margin of 56.84%. The company had revenue of $1.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.48 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.42 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 9.75 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th were given a dividend of $1.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 7th. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.35%. CME Group’s payout ratio is presently 52.33%.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In related news, Director Charles P. Carey sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.44, for a total transaction of $586,320.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 7,163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,399,936.72. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 67,455 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,226,934.05. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Charles P. Carey sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.44, for a total transaction of $586,320.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 7,163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,399,936.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 54,290 shares of company stock valued at $11,393,700. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CME has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Argus boosted their price target on CME Group from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of CME Group from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $206.00 to $187.00 in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $226.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a research report on Wednesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $210.00 target price (down from $235.00) on shares of CME Group in a report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on CME Group from $209.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $215.90.

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.