CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Holdings Boosted by Arizona State Retirement System

Arizona State Retirement System boosted its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 103,763 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 542 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in CME Group were worth $24,097,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CME. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 0.6% in the third quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 7,810 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,723,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 4.1% in the third quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 31,613 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,975,000 after purchasing an additional 1,251 shares during the period. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 77.8% in the third quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,298 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $286,000 after purchasing an additional 568 shares during the period. FSM Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $226,000. Finally, Catalina Capital Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $207,000. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Price Performance

NASDAQ CME opened at $254.48 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $91.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.32, a P/E/G ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.57. CME Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $190.70 and a 1 year high of $258.78. The business’s fifty day moving average is $239.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $230.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.01.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.46 by $0.06. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.62% and a net margin of 57.52%. On average, research analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, December 5th that authorizes the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.96%. This is a boost from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. CME Group’s payout ratio is presently 51.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CME Group news, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.83, for a total transaction of $385,245.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 8,036 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,063,885.88. The trade was a 15.73 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 3,984 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.47, for a total transaction of $997,872.48. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 27,046 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,774,211.62. This represents a 12.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 17,076 shares of company stock worth $4,271,496. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CME has been the topic of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 11th. Citigroup cut CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on CME Group from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on CME Group from $256.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $236.13.

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.