Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC Sells 1,060 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC reduced its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 0.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 119,798 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,060 shares during the period. CME Group accounts for 1.8% of Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC’s holdings, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $27,821,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in CME Group by 70.4% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,427,107 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $544,157,000 after acquiring an additional 1,003,119 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 11.3% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,283,196 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,038,676,000 after purchasing an additional 537,758 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 21,465.5% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 485,871 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,072,070,000 after purchasing an additional 483,618 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 17.8% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,514,040 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $554,707,000 after purchasing an additional 380,071 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Baillie Gifford & Co. acquired a new stake in CME Group during the third quarter valued at $79,692,000. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on CME. Citigroup lowered shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of CME Group in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $221.00 target price on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on shares of CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of CME Group from $195.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of CME Group from $231.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $229.53.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In other CME Group news, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.92, for a total transaction of $89,168.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 25,067 shares in the company, valued at $5,587,935.64. The trade was a 1.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Sunil Cutinho sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.64, for a total transaction of $1,019,880.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 27,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,131,291.92. This represents a 14.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 7,274 shares of company stock worth $1,648,071. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

CME Group Price Performance

CME traded up $0.03 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $229.33. 901,782 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,855,938. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $82.64 billion, a PE ratio of 24.11, a P/E/G ratio of 5.41 and a beta of 0.56. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $232.44 and its 200 day moving average price is $218.30. CME Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $190.70 and a 1-year high of $249.02.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.65 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 57.34% and a return on equity of 13.39%. The company’s revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.25 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th will be issued a $5.80 dividend. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous dividend of $2.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 27th. CME Group’s payout ratio is presently 48.37%.

CME Group declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, December 5th that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.