Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC Has $35.57 Million Stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC increased its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 2.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 168,895 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,574 shares during the quarter. CME Group accounts for 2.9% of Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC’s holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $35,569,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $610,482,000. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 31.5% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,858,967 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $972,863,000 after purchasing an additional 1,163,103 shares during the period. PineStone Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 261.4% in the third quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,280,194 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $256,320,000 after purchasing an additional 925,939 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its stake in CME Group by 90.0% in the 2nd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,218,481 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $225,771,000 after buying an additional 577,293 shares during the period. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in CME Group by 992.8% during the 1st quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 623,999 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $119,508,000 after buying an additional 566,899 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of CME stock opened at $215.29 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $77.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.27, a PEG ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $212.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $210.85. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $175.73 and a fifty-two week high of $223.80.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The financial services provider reported $2.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.10. CME Group had a net margin of 57.83% and a return on equity of 12.32%. 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 previous year, the firm earned $1.92 EPS. CME Group’s revenue was up 19.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 9.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on CME. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of CME Group from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $195.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. Argus upped their target price on CME Group from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Barclays increased their price target on CME Group from $222.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities restated a “sell” rating and issued a $180.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $217.30.

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.