Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC Buys 1,835 Shares of CME Group Inc. $CME

Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC boosted its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 117,801 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,835 shares during the period. CME Group accounts for about 2.0% of Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC’s holdings, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $32,468,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wayfinding Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of CME Group in the first quarter worth about $25,000. Webster Bank N. A. increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 206.9% in the second quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 89 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 122.2% in the first quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 84.3% in the second quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 94 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 612.5% in the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on CME. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of CME Group from $283.00 to $296.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Citigroup upgraded shares of CME Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $275.00 to $300.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of CME Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Sunday, July 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $246.00 to $252.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $303.00 to $312.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $274.15.

CME Group Price Performance

CME stock opened at $264.67 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. CME Group Inc. has a one year low of $213.94 and a one year high of $290.79. The stock has a market cap of $95.38 billion, a PE ratio of 25.62, a P/E/G ratio of 5.59 and a beta of 0.41. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $269.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $271.09.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.96 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.91 by $0.05. CME Group had a net margin of 58.48% and a return on equity of 14.60%. The business had revenue of $1.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.68 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.56 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 9th were issued a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 9th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.40%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director William R. Shepard purchased 262 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 25th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $265.19 per share, for a total transaction of $69,479.78. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 258,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $68,540,742.21. This represents a 0.10% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Timothy Francis Mccourt sold 379 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $259.83, for a total transaction of $98,475.57. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 9,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,470,463.64. This trade represents a 3.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 13,043 shares of company stock valued at $3,527,956. 0.30% of the stock is 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.