Capstone Financial Advisors Inc. Sells 1,724 Shares of CME Group Inc. $CME

Capstone Financial Advisors Inc. trimmed its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 8.7% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 18,100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,724 shares during the quarter. Capstone Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $4,989,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Advisors Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in CME Group by 4.4% during the second quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 108,340 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,861,000 after buying an additional 4,550 shares during the period. L & S Advisors Inc increased its stake in CME Group by 158.4% in the 2nd quarter. L & S Advisors Inc now owns 36,323 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,011,000 after acquiring an additional 22,268 shares during the last quarter. Donoghue Forlines LLC raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 7.3% in the 2nd quarter. Donoghue Forlines LLC now owns 15,485 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,268,000 after acquiring an additional 1,048 shares in the last quarter. Oak Harvest Investment Services boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Oak Harvest Investment Services now owns 25,702 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,084,000 after acquiring an additional 314 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 36.0% during the 2nd quarter. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. now owns 46,760 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $12,883,000 after acquiring an additional 12,376 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of CME Group from $296.00 to $313.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of CME Group from $300.00 to $303.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of CME Group from $285.00 to $280.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $283.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, October 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of CME Group from $313.00 to $304.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 10th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $287.06.

CME Group Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of CME opened at $283.54 on Friday. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $222.56 and a fifty-two week high of $290.79. The firm has a market cap of $102.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.47, a PEG ratio of 4.41 and a beta of 0.38. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $266.87 and a 200-day moving average price of $272.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.63 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.56 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 58.84% and a return on equity of 14.61%. The firm’s revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.68 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be paid a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th. CME Group’s payout ratio is 48.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In related news, Director William R. Shepard acquired 262 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 25th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $265.19 per share, with a total value of $69,479.78. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 258,459 shares in the company, valued at $68,540,742.21. This trade represents a 0.10% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus sold 392 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.00, for a total transaction of $102,704.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 7,851 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,056,962. The trade was a 4.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 14,043 shares of company stock worth $3,791,486 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group 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.