First Foundation Advisors Sells 2,855 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

First Foundation Advisors decreased its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 4.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 59,950 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,855 shares during the period. First Foundation Advisors’ holdings in CME Group were worth $13,922,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of CME. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. grew its position in CME Group by 570.6% during the 4th quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in CME Group by 50.0% during the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 129 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the period. Financial Life Planners acquired a new position in CME Group during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Knuff & Co LLC acquired a new position in CME Group during the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC lifted its stake in shares of CME Group by 120.3% in the 4th quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 152 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In related news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total transaction of $2,888,378.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 21,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,453,085.45. This trade represents a 34.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Howard J. Siegel sold 10,000 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total transaction of $2,600,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 21,873 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,686,980. The trade was a 31.37 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 27,076 shares of company stock valued at $6,871,496. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on CME shares. Citigroup lowered CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Raymond James upgraded CME Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $287.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on CME Group from $275.00 to $283.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded CME Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $301.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $246.80.

CME Group Stock Up 1.3 %

CME opened at $257.42 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $254.49 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $238.51. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $190.70 and a 52 week high of $273.42. The company has a market capitalization of $92.76 billion, a PE ratio of 26.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.46 by $0.06. CME Group had a net margin of 57.52% and a return on equity of 13.62%. Analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.94%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.71%.

CME Group Company 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.