New Mexico Educational Retirement Board Acquires 2,200 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

New Mexico Educational Retirement Board raised its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 11.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 20,935 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,200 shares during the period. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board’s holdings in CME Group were worth $4,980,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of CME. Gold Investment Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Northwest Financial Advisors bought a new position in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC raised its position in shares of CME Group by 966.7% in the 4th quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 160 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Atticus Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of CME Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $40,000. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other news, Director Charles P. Carey sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.44, for a total value of $586,320.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,163 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,399,936.72. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, Director Charles P. Carey sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.44, for a total value of $586,320.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,399,936.72. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Terry L. Savage sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.65, for a total value of $526,625.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,441 shares in the company, valued at $3,673,946.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 54,290 shares of company stock worth $11,393,700 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on CME Group from $222.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded CME Group from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $206.00 to $187.00 in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “sell” rating and issued a $187.00 price target (up previously from $185.00) on shares of CME Group in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Barclays upped their price target on CME Group from $226.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on CME Group from $209.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $215.90.

CME Group Stock Up 0.5 %

CME traded up $1.07 during trading on Friday, hitting $196.60. 6,618,079 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,263,889. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $205.30 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $208.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. CME Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $180.11 and a 12-month high of $223.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.37, a PEG ratio of 5.16 and a beta of 0.52.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.44 by $0.06. CME Group had a return on equity of 12.45% and a net margin of 56.84%. The business had revenue of $1.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.48 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.42 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 9.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th were paid a $1.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 7th. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.34%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 52.33%.

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.