Strs Ohio Has $29.79 Million Stock Holdings in CME Group Inc. $CME

Strs Ohio reduced its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 4.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 100,845 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,750 shares during the quarter. Strs Ohio’s holdings in CME Group were worth $29,785,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in CME. Asset Dedication LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 64.9% in the fourth quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 94 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of CME Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Elkhorn Partners Limited Partnership bought a new stake in CME Group during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in CME Group during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID raised its position in CME Group by 191.9% in the 4th quarter. Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID now owns 108 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on CME shares. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $320.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a research note on Thursday. Piper Sandler set a $320.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of CME Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 13th. Erste Group Bank cut shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on CME Group from $356.00 to $349.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $300.94.

Insider Activity

In other CME Group news, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 5,753 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.63, for a total value of $1,752,536.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 27,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,438,860.26. This trade represents a 17.20% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director William R. Shepard purchased 325 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 25th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $230.57 per share, with a total value of $74,935.25. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 260,442 shares in the company, valued at approximately $60,050,111.94. This trade represents a 0.12% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

CME Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CME opened at $236.60 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $267.17 and its 200 day moving average is $284.28. The firm has a market cap of $85.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.19, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. CME Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $218.31 and a 52-week high of $329.16.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.36 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.11 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $1.88 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.77 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 15.42% and a net margin of 63.19%.The firm’s revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.80 EPS. Research analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 12.28 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 9th were given a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 9th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.37%.

About CME Group

CME Group Inc is a global markets company that operates some of the world’s largest and most liquid derivatives exchanges, including the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) and COMEX. The firm offers futures and options contracts across a broad range of asset classes — including interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, energy, agricultural commodities and metals — and serves a diverse client base of institutional investors, commercial hedgers, brokers and retail participants.

The company’s core services include electronic trading on the CME Globex platform, central clearing through CME Clearing, and distribution of market data, indexes and analytics.