103,800 CME Group Inc. $CME Shares Sold by VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al reduced its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 62.4% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 62,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 103,800 shares during the period. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al’s holdings in CME Group were worth $16,400,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in CME. Whipplewood Advisors LLC lifted its stake in CME Group by 2,075.0% during the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. First Community Trust NA bought a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. North Point Portfolio Managers Corp OH bought a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Main Street Group LTD purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group in the first quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group in the second quarter valued at about $28,000. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

CME Group Price Performance

CME Group stock opened at $303.14 on Friday. CME Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $218.31 and a 12 month high of $329.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $280.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $280.01. The company has a market cap of $108.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.87, a PEG ratio of 3.70 and a beta of 0.24.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The financial services provider reported $3.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.99 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 16.23% and a net margin of 63.33%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.68 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 12.34 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 9th were given a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 9th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.66%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CME Group news, Director Martin Gepsman sold 400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $302.50, for a total value of $121,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 25,244 shares in the company, valued at $7,636,310. This trade represents a 1.56% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Terrence Duffy sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.44, for a total transaction of $4,116,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 40,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,150,497.20. This represents a 26.96% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 20,900 shares of company stock worth $5,871,155 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on CME shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of CME Group from $315.00 to $333.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of CME Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $337.00 to $359.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of CME Group from $226.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded CME Group from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $367.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $314.44.

CME Group Company Profile

CME Group Inc operates global derivatives marketplaces that provide trading, clearing and settlement services for futures and options contracts. Its products cover major asset classes, including interest rates, equity indexes, foreign currencies, agricultural commodities, energy and metals. The company also provides market data, benchmark information and related services used by financial institutions, corporations, producers, investors and other market participants.

CME Group’s exchange portfolio includes CME, the Chicago Board of Trade, the New York Mercantile Exchange and COMEX.