Forum Financial Management LP Sells 4,413 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Forum Financial Management LP cut its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 37.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,477 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 4,413 shares during the period. Forum Financial Management LP's holdings in CME Group were worth $1,736,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. M&T Bank Corp increased its stake in CME Group by 10.3% in the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 96,069 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $21,198,000 after acquiring an additional 8,968 shares during the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC lifted its position in CME Group by 52.4% during the third quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 378 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $83,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in CME Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $7,615,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 46,773 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $10,320,000 after buying an additional 1,613 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 70.4% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,427,107 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $544,157,000 after acquiring an additional 1,003,119 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

CME Group Stock Down 0.8 %

CME traded down $2.20 on Monday, hitting $260.33. The company had a trading volume of 2,477,098 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,146,103. CME Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $190.70 and a 52-week high of $273.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $93.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.92, a P/E/G ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.43. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $257.42 and a 200-day simple moving average of $240.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.46 by $0.06. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.62% and a net margin of 57.52%. As a group, equities analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $1.25 per share. This is an increase 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 1.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. CME Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 51.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other CME Group news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total value of $2,888,378.64. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 21,885 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,453,085.45. This represents a 34.63 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Howard J. Siegel sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total value of $2,600,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 21,873 shares in the company, valued at $5,686,980. The trade was a 31.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 27,076 shares of company stock worth $6,871,496. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CME has been the topic of a number of research reports. Raymond James upgraded CME Group from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $287.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Erste Group Bank raised CME Group to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $269.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of CME Group from $200.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $263.00 to $279.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $247.47.

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.