Forum Financial Management LP Reduces Stock Holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Forum Financial Management LP cut its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 37.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor 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 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital International Ltd. CA increased its position in CME Group by 14.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Ltd. CA now owns 54,479 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $12,652,000 after buying an additional 6,953 shares in the last quarter. Capital Group Investment Management PTE. LTD. increased its position in CME Group by 12.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital Group Investment Management PTE. LTD. now owns 12,299 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,856,000 after purchasing an additional 1,395 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Sarl increased its position in CME Group by 19.0% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Sarl now owns 82,015 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $19,046,000 after purchasing an additional 13,095 shares in the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co raised its stake in CME Group by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 521,568 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $121,036,000 after purchasing an additional 7,531 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its holdings in CME Group by 16.4% in the 4th quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 668,431 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $155,230,000 after purchasing an additional 94,391 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Howard J. Siegel sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the director now directly owns 21,873 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,686,980. This trade represents a 31.37 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.83, for a total transaction of $385,245.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 8,036 shares in the company, valued at $2,063,885.88. This represents a 15.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 27,076 shares of company stock worth $6,871,496. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CME has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup downgraded shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on CME Group from $275.00 to $283.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $269.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Barclays lifted their price objective on CME Group from $263.00 to $279.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $247.47.

CME Group Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of CME stock opened at $262.53 on Friday. 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 Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $190.70 and a fifty-two week high of $273.42. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $257.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $240.42. The stock has a market cap of $94.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.43.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.46 by $0.06. CME Group had a net margin of 57.52% and a return on equity of 13.62%. On average, analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current 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 $1.25 dividend. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.90%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.71%.

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.