CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Shares Sold by First Foundation Advisors

First Foundation Advisors trimmed its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 4.2% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 55,990 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,428 shares during the quarter. First Foundation Advisors’ holdings in CME Group were worth $11,008,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of CME. Second Half Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in CME Group in the fourth quarter worth about $2,737,000. Bluefin Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,891,000. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 81.4% in the 1st quarter. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp now owns 44,534 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,588,000 after purchasing an additional 19,985 shares in the last quarter. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP lifted its stake in CME Group by 20.2% during the fourth quarter. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP now owns 523 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $110,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its holdings in CME Group by 229.4% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 292,597 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $61,618,000 after buying an additional 203,769 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on CME shares. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on CME Group from $212.00 to $213.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of CME Group from $193.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of CME Group from $187.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $208.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $209.73.

CME Group Stock Up 0.5 %

CME stock opened at $220.50 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $203.51 and a two-hundred day moving average of $207.54. The company has a market cap of $79.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.09, a PEG ratio of 8.92 and a beta of 0.55. CME Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $190.70 and a 12-month high of $223.80. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.53 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.53 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 56.98% and a return on equity of 12.82%. CME Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.30 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 9.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be paid a dividend of $1.15 per share. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 9th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.33%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 7,593 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.59, for a total value of $1,629,381.87. Following the transaction, the director now owns 55,607 shares in the company, valued at $11,932,706.13. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 7,593 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.59, for a total value of $1,629,381.87. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 55,607 shares in the company, valued at $11,932,706.13. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Charles P. Carey sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.44, for a total value of $586,320.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 7,163 shares in the company, valued at $1,399,936.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About CME Group

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.