Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Has $5.24 Million Stock Holdings in CME Group Inc. $CME

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System cut its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 2.1% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 19,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 400 shares during the quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in CME Group were worth $5,237,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CME. Wayfinding Financial LLC acquired a new position in CME Group during the first quarter valued at $25,000. Webster Bank N. A. raised its position in CME Group by 206.9% during the second quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 89 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC raised its position in CME Group by 122.2% during the first quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the period. Highline Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in CME Group by 84.3% during the second quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 94 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the period. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its position in CME Group by 612.5% during the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CME Group Stock Performance

CME opened at $264.94 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $95.48 billion, a PE ratio of 25.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.56 and a beta of 0.41. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $269.26 and a 200-day moving average of $271.06. CME Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $213.94 and a 52-week high of $290.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.91 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.68 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 14.60% and a net margin of 58.48%.The firm’s revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.56 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 9th were paid a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 9th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is 48.40%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on CME shares. UBS Group dropped their price target on CME Group from $305.00 to $285.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 8th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of CME Group in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays lowered their target price on CME Group from $298.00 to $280.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on CME Group from $300.00 to $303.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their target price on CME Group from $283.00 to $296.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $275.17.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Sunil Cutinho sold 11,896 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.47, for a total transaction of $3,229,407.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 17,440 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,734,436.80. This represents a 40.55% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Timothy Francis Mccourt sold 379 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $259.83, for a total value of $98,475.57. Following the sale, the insider owned 9,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,470,463.64. The trade was a 3.83% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 13,043 shares of company stock worth $3,527,956. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group 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.