Teacher Retirement System of Texas Boosts Stock Holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 29.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 279,062 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 64,045 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas owned about 0.08% of CME Group worth $64,807,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Generali Investments Management Co LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,134,000. Vinva Investment Management Ltd raised its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 1,199 shares during the last quarter. Xponance Inc. raised its holdings in CME Group by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 52,605 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $12,216,000 after purchasing an additional 1,458 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 106.6% during the 4th quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 47,162 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,952,000 after buying an additional 24,332 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Generali Asset Management SPA SGR acquired a new position in shares of CME Group during the 4th quarter worth $819,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Performance

CME Group stock opened at $265.47 on Thursday. CME Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $190.70 and a 12-month high of $267.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The company has a market capitalization of $95.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.53. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $245.07 and its 200 day moving average price is $233.51.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.46 by $0.06. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.62% and a net margin of 57.52%. On average, research analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, December 5th that allows the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to buy up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

CME Group Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.83, for a total transaction of $385,245.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 8,036 shares in the company, valued at $2,063,885.88. The trade was a 15.73 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Howard J. Siegel sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total transaction of $2,600,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 21,873 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,686,980. The trade was a 31.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 27,076 shares of company stock worth $6,871,496. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on CME. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Erste Group Bank raised shares of CME Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Citigroup downgraded CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of CME Group from $257.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Four equities 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $238.93.

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.