CME Group Inc. $CME Shares Sold by Employees Retirement System of Texas

Employees Retirement System of Texas trimmed its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 25.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 37,527 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 12,670 shares during the period. Employees Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in CME Group were worth $10,248,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Asset Dedication LLC grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 64.9% in the 4th quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 94 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in CME Group during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates boosted its position in CME Group by 1,250.0% during the fourth quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 108 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID boosted its position in CME Group by 191.9% during the fourth quarter. Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID now owns 108 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Anfield Capital Management LLC boosted its position in CME Group by 197.4% during the fourth quarter. Anfield Capital Management LLC now owns 113 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In related news, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 35,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $298.51, for a total value of $10,447,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 55,630 shares in the company, valued at $16,606,111.30. This represents a 38.62% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 5,753 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.63, for a total transaction of $1,752,536.39. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 27,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,438,860.26. This represents a 17.20% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 44,044 shares of company stock worth $13,297,507 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on CME. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on CME Group from $266.00 to $271.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Erste Group Bank upgraded CME Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Wall Street Zen downgraded CME Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Sunday, April 26th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on CME Group from $362.00 to $353.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on CME Group from $343.00 to $316.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $305.29.

CME Group Stock Down 3.0%

NASDAQ:CME opened at $282.54 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $295.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $289.56. The company has a market cap of $102.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.11, a P/E/G ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.23. CME Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $257.17 and a 52-week high of $329.16. 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 (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.36 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.11 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $1.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.77 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 63.19% and a return on equity of 15.42%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.80 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate 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 will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 9th will be given a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 9th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.