CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Shares Sold by Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lessened its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 2.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 76,623 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,766 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS’s holdings in CME Group were worth $17,794,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. iA Global Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 19.9% during the 4th quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 97,874 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $22,729,000 after purchasing an additional 16,264 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its position in CME Group by 29.8% during the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 279,062 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $64,807,000 after buying an additional 64,045 shares in the last quarter. Generali Investments Management Co LLC acquired a new position in CME Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,134,000. Vinva Investment Management Ltd grew its stake in CME Group by 7.3% during the fourth quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 17,725 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,104,000 after buying an additional 1,199 shares during the period. Finally, Xponance Inc. increased its position in shares of CME Group by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 52,605 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $12,216,000 after acquiring an additional 1,458 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CME Group Trading Up 0.4 %

NASDAQ CME opened at $266.54 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $96.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.02. CME Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $190.70 and a 12 month high of $267.91. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $245.81 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $233.74.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, research analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.88%. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. CME Group’s payout ratio is 51.71%.

CME Group announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Thursday, December 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on CME. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of CME Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on CME Group from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on CME Group from $235.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Raymond James raised shares of CME Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $287.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $238.93.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In related news, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.83, for a total transaction of $385,245.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 8,036 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,063,885.88. This represents a 15.73 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 3,984 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.47, for a total transaction of $997,872.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 27,046 shares in the company, valued at $6,774,211.62. This represents a 12.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 27,076 shares of company stock valued at $6,871,496. Corporate 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.