Kentucky Retirement Systems Sells 206 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Kentucky Retirement Systems reduced its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 27,133 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 206 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in CME Group were worth $5,334,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in CME Group by 24.1% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 15,809,175 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,403,557,000 after acquiring an additional 3,069,806 shares in the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in CME Group by 137.6% during the second quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,260,644 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $444,443,000 after acquiring an additional 1,309,097 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in CME Group by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 14,589,867 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,072,654,000 after acquiring an additional 1,172,575 shares in the last quarter. M&G Plc bought a new position in CME Group during the first quarter worth about $156,631,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in CME Group by 577.9% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 645,330 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $126,872,000 after acquiring an additional 550,133 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CME opened at $214.76 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $207.46 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $207.59. The company has a market cap of $77.33 billion, a PE ratio of 24.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.85 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. CME Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $190.70 and a twelve month high of $223.80.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.53 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.53 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 12.82% and a net margin of 56.98%. The business’s revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.30 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 9.94 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be issued a dividend of $1.15 per share. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.14%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 9th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.33%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CME has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays lifted their price target on CME Group from $208.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Bank of America downgraded CME Group from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $212.00 to $177.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on CME Group from $193.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on CME Group from $187.00 to $191.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $209.73.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other news, CFO Lynne Fitzpatrick sold 754 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Sunday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.99, for a total transaction of $163,610.46. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 13,261 shares in the company, valued at $2,877,504.39. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Lynne Fitzpatrick sold 754 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Sunday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.99, for a total value of $163,610.46. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 13,261 shares in the company, valued at $2,877,504.39. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 7,593 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.59, for a total value of $1,629,381.87. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 55,607 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,932,706.13. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 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.