First Foundation Advisors Has $10.67 Million Stock Holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Key Points

• First Foundation Advisors reduced its stake in CME Group Inc. by 32.9% during the first quarter, leaving it with 40,217 shares valued at approximately $10.67 million.
• CME Group reported $2.96 earnings per share for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations and indicating a 10.4% year-over-year revenue increase.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $1.25 per share, representing an annualized dividend yield of 1.82%, with a payout ratio of 48.40%.

First Foundation Advisors reduced its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 32.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 40,217 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 19,733 shares during the quarter. First Foundation Advisors' holdings in CME Group were worth $10,669,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Heartland Bank & Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of CME Group in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $377,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in CME Group by 256.9% in the 1st quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,662 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $971,000 after acquiring an additional 2,636 shares in the last quarter. OMNI 360 Wealth Inc. bought a new stake in CME Group in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $367,000. Fulcrum Equity Management bought a new stake in CME Group in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $258,000. Finally, Aspire Growth Partners LLC bought a new stake in CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $548,000. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on CME. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on CME Group from $223.00 to $211.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on CME Group from $265.00 to $273.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Wall Street Zen downgraded CME Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Sunday, July 13th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on CME Group from $301.00 to $304.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Erste Group Bank downgraded CME Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, CME Group has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $261.93.

CME Group Stock Performance

CME stock traded up $2.48 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $280.76. 2,999,004 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,372,032. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $101.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.18, a P/E/G ratio of 4.93 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $276.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $263.55. CME Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $196.62 and a 12 month high of $290.79.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.91 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.68 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 14.60% and a net margin of 58.48%. CME Group's quarterly revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.56 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th were issued a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 9th. CME Group's dividend payout ratio is 48.40%.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In related news, Director William R. Shepard bought 256 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 25th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $270.53 per share, with a total value of $69,255.68. Following the acquisition, the director owned 258,196 shares in the company, valued at $69,849,763.88. This trade represents a 0.10% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Phyllis M. Lockett sold 1,060 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $277.88, for a total value of $294,552.80. Following the sale, the director directly owned 3,108 shares in the company, valued at approximately $863,651.04. This trade represents a 25.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 10,400 shares of company stock worth $2,881,130 in the last quarter. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.