CME Group Inc. $CME Stake Trimmed by VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al lessened its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 22.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 241,300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 69,800 shares during the quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al owned approximately 0.07% of CME Group worth $65,894,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Asset Dedication LLC grew its stake in CME Group by 64.9% during the 4th quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 94 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA purchased a new position in CME Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC purchased a new position in CME Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID grew its stake in CME Group by 191.9% during the 4th quarter. Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID now owns 108 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Global Wealth Strategies & Associates grew its stake in CME Group by 1,250.0% during the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 108 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CME opened at $285.75 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $299.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $287.59. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $257.17 and a fifty-two week high of $329.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $103.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.36 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.11 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.77 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 15.42% and a net margin of 63.19%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.80 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 12.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 9th will be issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 9th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.37%.

Insider Activity

In other news, General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus sold 3,291 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $333.37, for a total transaction of $1,097,120.67. Following the transaction, the general counsel owned 7,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,397,597.04. This represents a 31.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 4,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.65, for a total value of $1,300,530.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 43,007 shares in the company, valued at $13,317,117.55. This trade represents a 8.90% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 7,791 shares of company stock valued at $2,489,421 over the last 90 days. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CME has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen cut CME Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Sunday, April 26th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on CME Group from $313.00 to $329.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of CME Group from $340.00 to $323.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods initiated coverage on CME Group in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $305.00 price target for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on CME Group from $356.00 to $349.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $305.29.

CME Group Company Profile

CME Group Inc is a global markets company that operates some of the world’s largest and most liquid derivatives exchanges, including the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) and COMEX. The firm offers futures and options contracts across a broad range of asset classes — including interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, energy, agricultural commodities and metals — and serves a diverse client base of institutional investors, commercial hedgers, brokers and retail participants.

The company’s core services include electronic trading on the CME Globex platform, central clearing through CME Clearing, and distribution of market data, indexes and analytics.