Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC Lowers Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC lessened its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 3.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 115,966 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 3,832 shares during the quarter. CME Group comprises 2.2% of Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC's holdings in CME Group were worth $30,765,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of CME. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,379 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $366,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC raised its stake in CME Group by 50.0% during the fourth quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 129 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 1,769 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $411,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 8.4% in the fourth quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 592 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $137,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 12.1% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 437 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $101,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of CME Group from $223.00 to $211.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of CME Group from $279.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Bank of America increased their price target on CME Group from $200.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on CME Group from $275.00 to $283.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on CME Group from $265.00 to $273.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $258.20.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In related news, Director Larry G. Gerdes sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.10, for a total value of $528,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 38,651 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,207,729.10. The trade was a 4.92% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Dennis Suskind sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.28, for a total value of $271,280.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 2,915 shares of the company's stock, valued at $790,781.20. This trade represents a 25.54% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 13,400 shares of company stock valued at $3,680,610. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

CME Group Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:CME traded down $0.61 during trading on Thursday, reaching $269.04. The stock had a trading volume of 831,417 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,193,614. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $190.70 and a 52 week high of $290.79. 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's fifty day moving average is $272.07 and its 200 day moving average is $253.75. The stock has a market cap of $96.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.82, a P/E/G ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.45.

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

CME Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be issued a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.86%. CME Group's payout ratio is currently 50.30%.

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.