Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC Buys 4,574 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC raised its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 2.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 168,895 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,574 shares during the quarter. CME Group comprises 2.9% of Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $35,569,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Lockerman Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at $208,000. Ritholtz Wealth Management boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 6,099 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,285,000 after buying an additional 340 shares during the period. Northcape Capital Pty Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,677,000. Procyon Advisors LLC boosted its stake in CME Group by 28.7% in the 4th quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 20,963 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,415,000 after purchasing an additional 4,679 shares during the period. Finally, Planned Solutions Inc. purchased a new position in CME Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $63,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on CME. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “sell” rating and issued a $180.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Argus lifted their target price on CME Group from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of CME Group from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $195.00 price target for the company. in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of CME Group from $222.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $217.30.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CME opened at $215.29 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $212.15 and a 200-day moving average of $210.85. CME Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $175.73 and a 12 month high of $223.80. The company has a market capitalization of $77.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.27, a P/E/G ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The financial services provider reported $2.37 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.10. CME Group had a return on equity of 12.32% and a net margin of 57.83%. The company had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.43 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.92 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 9.63 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a dividend of $1.15 per share. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.10. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.14%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is 51.86%.

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.