Nicolet Advisory Services LLC Decreases Holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Nicolet Advisory Services LLC reduced its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 8.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,093 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 97 shares during the quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $245,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in CME Group by 21.2% during the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 48,205 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,477,000 after purchasing an additional 8,443 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its position in shares of CME Group by 429.1% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 47,521 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,231,000 after acquiring an additional 38,540 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management raised its stake in CME Group by 12.2% in the 2nd quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 30,555 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,156,000 after acquiring an additional 3,325 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. lifted its position in CME Group by 197.2% during the 2nd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 6,066 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,306,000 after acquiring an additional 4,025 shares during the period. Finally, Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in CME Group by 40.8% during the 2nd quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 10,742 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,112,000 after purchasing an additional 3,112 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on CME. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $235.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of CME Group in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. They set a “hold” rating and a $221.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $177.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of CME Group from $210.00 to $233.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic downgraded CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $244.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, CME Group has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $224.47.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other CME Group news, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 7,593 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.59, for a total transaction of $1,629,381.87. Following the sale, the director now owns 55,607 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,932,706.13. The trade was a 12.01 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Lynne Fitzpatrick sold 754 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Sunday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.99, for a total transaction of $163,610.46. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 13,261 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,877,504.39. The trade was a 5.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 15,621 shares of company stock worth $3,441,063. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of CME stock opened at $229.04 on Monday. CME Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $190.70 and a 1-year high of $230.74. The company has a market cap of $82.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.08, a PEG ratio of 5.23 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $223.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $211.08.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.65 by $0.03. CME Group had a net margin of 57.34% and a return on equity of 13.39%. The company had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.59 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.25 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be paid a $1.15 dividend. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.37%.

CME Group Company 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.