CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Holdings Reduced by Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lessened its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 2.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 76,623 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,766 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS’s holdings in CME Group were worth $17,794,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in CME. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in CME Group in the fourth quarter worth about $871,063,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of CME Group by 70.4% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,427,107 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $544,157,000 after buying an additional 1,003,119 shares in the last quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC lifted its stake in shares of CME Group by 69.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 2,435,823 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $565,671,000 after acquiring an additional 996,498 shares during the period. Egerton Capital UK LLP bought a new position in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $223,967,000. Finally, Canoe Financial LP increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 698.0% during the fourth quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 544,219 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $126,384,000 after acquiring an additional 476,019 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on CME Group from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on CME Group from $235.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $256.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Citigroup cut shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, CME Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $238.93.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CME opened at $266.54 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $245.81 and its two-hundred day moving average is $233.74. The company has a market cap of $96.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.53. CME Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $190.70 and a 12-month high of $267.91. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.46 by $0.06. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.62% and a net margin of 57.52%. Equities analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

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

CME Group declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, December 5th that allows the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other CME Group news, Director Howard J. Siegel sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total value of $2,600,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 21,873 shares in the company, valued at $5,686,980. The trade was a 31.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total value of $2,888,378.64. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 21,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,453,085.45. This trade represents a 34.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 27,076 shares of company stock worth $6,871,496 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.