CME Group Inc. $CME Stock Holdings Trimmed by New York State Teachers Retirement System

New York State Teachers Retirement System lessened its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 271,083 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,746 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in CME Group were worth $74,027,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sanders Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,006,932,000. Strive Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in CME Group in the third quarter worth $636,487,000. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. increased its stake in CME Group by 107.2% during the third quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,502,752 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $406,029,000 after purchasing an additional 777,571 shares during the last quarter. Viking Global Investors LP bought a new stake in CME Group during the second quarter valued at $164,648,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,895,583 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,802,366,000 after purchasing an additional 588,509 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barclays cut their target price on shares of CME Group from $343.00 to $316.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on CME Group from $356.00 to $349.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on CME Group from $362.00 to $353.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on CME Group from $295.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn reduced their price objective on CME Group from $340.00 to $316.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $305.29.

CME Group Stock Performance

CME opened at $287.82 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $303.08 and its 200-day moving average is $286.58. The stock has a market cap of $103.22 billion, a PE ratio of 24.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 0.26. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. CME Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $257.17 and a twelve month high of $329.16.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.11 by $0.25. CME Group had a return on equity of 15.42% and a net margin of 63.19%.The business had revenue of $1.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.77 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.80 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 12.26 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 10th were given a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 10th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. This is a boost from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. CME Group’s payout ratio is currently 44.37%.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In other news, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.90, for a total value of $91,770.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 24,999 shares in the company, valued at $7,647,194.10. This trade represents a 1.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus sold 3,291 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $333.37, for a total value of $1,097,120.67. Following the sale, the general counsel directly owned 7,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,397,597.04. The trade was a 31.39% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 8,539 shares of company stock worth $2,713,821 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.