Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado Decreases Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado lowered its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 50,327 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,377 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado’s holdings in CME Group were worth $9,894,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of CME. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its stake in CME Group by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 3,625 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $782,000 after buying an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its stake in CME Group by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 1,160 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $250,000 after buying an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Lantz Financial LLC grew its stake in CME Group by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 4,561 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $982,000 after buying an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Lester Murray Antman dba SimplyRich boosted its holdings in CME Group by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Lester Murray Antman dba SimplyRich now owns 7,667 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,507,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, Greystone Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in CME Group by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Greystone Financial Group LLC now owns 3,282 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $691,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on CME shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of CME Group from $193.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Bank of America downgraded shares of CME Group from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their price target for the company from $212.00 to $177.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $212.00 to $213.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $208.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $209.73.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In related news, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 7,593 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.59, for a total transaction of $1,629,381.87. Following the transaction, the director now owns 55,607 shares in the company, valued at $11,932,706.13. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 7,593 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.59, for a total transaction of $1,629,381.87. Following the sale, the director now owns 55,607 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,932,706.13. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Lynne Fitzpatrick sold 754 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Sunday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.99, for a total transaction of $163,610.46. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 13,261 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,877,504.39. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

CME Group Stock Performance

CME Group stock opened at $213.16 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The company has a market capitalization of $76.75 billion, a PE ratio of 24.25, a P/E/G ratio of 8.85 and a beta of 0.55. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $207.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $207.45. CME Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $190.70 and a twelve month high of $223.80.

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

CME Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Investors of record on Monday, September 9th will be given a dividend of $1.15 per share. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 9th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.33%.

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.