Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC Trims Stake in CME Group Inc. $CME

Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC lowered its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 5.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 112,120 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 6,268 shares during the period. CME Group accounts for about 1.4% of Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $24,759,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CME. Asset Dedication LLC raised its holdings in CME Group by 64.9% in the fourth quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 94 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC lifted its position in CME Group by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC now owns 11,523 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,147,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the period. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 898 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $243,000 after buying an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Endowment Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Endowment Wealth Management Inc. now owns 895 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $244,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NBT Bank N A NY grew its position in shares of CME Group by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. NBT Bank N A NY now owns 1,666 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $492,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director William R. Shepard acquired 325 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 25th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $230.57 per share, for a total transaction of $74,935.25. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 260,442 shares in the company, valued at approximately $60,050,111.94. The trade was a 0.12% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 35,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $298.51, for a total value of $10,447,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 55,630 shares in the company, valued at $16,606,111.30. This trade represents a 38.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Price Performance

CME opened at $263.66 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $94.81 billion, a PE ratio of 22.36, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.23. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $249.24 and a 200-day moving average price of $280.79. CME Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $218.31 and a 1 year high of $329.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.99 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.91 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $1.71 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.68 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 63.30% and a return on equity of 15.60%. CME Group’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.96 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 12.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 9th will be paid a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 9th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.11%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on CME shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of CME Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of CME Group from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of CME Group from $267.00 to $245.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of CME Group from $316.00 to $270.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of CME Group from $226.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, CME Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $291.81.

About CME Group

CME Group Inc is a global markets company that operates some of the world’s largest and most liquid derivatives exchanges, including the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) and COMEX. The firm offers futures and options contracts across a broad range of asset classes — including interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, energy, agricultural commodities and metals — and serves a diverse client base of institutional investors, commercial hedgers, brokers and retail participants.

The company’s core services include electronic trading on the CME Globex platform, central clearing through CME Clearing, and distribution of market data, indexes and analytics.