CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Shares Sold by California Public Employees Retirement System

California Public Employees Retirement System cut its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 1.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,623,595 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 23,119 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in CME Group were worth $377,047,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of CME. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 108.7% in the 4th quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 12,390 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,949,000 after buying an additional 6,453 shares in the last quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. acquired a new position in CME Group during the fourth quarter worth about $6,144,000. Spire Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 37.4% in the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 1,320 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $307,000 after purchasing an additional 359 shares in the last quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc grew its position in shares of CME Group by 19.3% in the fourth quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc now owns 326,098 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $75,730,000 after purchasing an additional 52,862 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Unified Investment Management purchased a new position in shares of CME Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $503,000. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CME Group Price Performance

CME stock opened at $262.22 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $94.49 billion, a PE ratio of 27.12, 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 current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $249.65 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $235.75.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, research analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.91%. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.71%.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on CME shares. Citigroup lowered CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Raymond James raised shares of CME Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $287.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Barclays raised 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 analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $238.93.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other CME Group news, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of the company’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 value of $385,245.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 8,036 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,063,885.88. This represents a 15.73 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 34.63 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 27,076 shares of company stock valued at $6,871,496 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

About CME Group

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.