Forum Financial Management LP Has $1.74 Million Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Forum Financial Management LP lessened its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 37.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,477 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 4,413 shares during the period. Forum Financial Management LP's holdings in CME Group were worth $1,736,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of CME. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. grew its stake in CME Group by 570.6% during the 4th quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of CME Group by 50.0% in the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 129 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Financial Life Planners bought a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Knuff & Co LLC bought a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Banque Transatlantique SA bought a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Erste Group Bank cut CME Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on CME Group from $223.00 to $211.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. UBS Group boosted their price target on CME Group from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a $269.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Raymond James raised CME Group from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $287.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, CME Group presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $256.80.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Howard J. Siegel sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total value of $2,600,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 21,873 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,686,980. This trade represents a 31.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 300 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $273.17, for a total value of $81,951.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 24,767 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,765,601.39. This trade represents a 1.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 24,400 shares of company stock valued at $6,533,180. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME traded up $1.12 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $286.99. The company's stock had a trading volume of 524,341 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,178,756. CME Group Inc. has a one year low of $190.70 and a one year high of $287.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $103.42 billion, a PE ratio of 29.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.45. The stock's 50-day moving average is $269.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $250.66.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.61 by $0.19. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.62% and a net margin of 57.52%. The company had revenue of $1.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.56 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.50 earnings per share. CME Group's revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.74%. CME Group's dividend payout ratio is 50.30%.

CME Group Company 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.