CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Shares Sold by Maryland State Retirement & Pension System

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System cut its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 6.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,304 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,240 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in CME Group were worth $4,483,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of CME. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 570.6% in the fourth quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new stake in CME Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Dunhill Financial LLC increased its holdings in CME Group by 188.4% in the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 124 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the period. Financial Life Planners purchased a new position in CME Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Knuff & Co LLC acquired a new stake in CME Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:CME opened at $265.47 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $95.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.53. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $245.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $233.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.02. CME Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $190.70 and a 1 year high of $267.91.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 57.52% and a return on equity of 13.62%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.88%. 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%.

CME Group declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program 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 programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on CME. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of CME Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Citigroup downgraded CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays upped their target price on CME Group from $257.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on CME Group from $256.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, CME Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $238.93.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 3,984 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.47, for a total value of $997,872.48. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 27,046 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,774,211.62. This trade represents a 12.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total transaction of $2,888,378.64. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 21,885 shares in the company, valued at $5,453,085.45. The trade was a 34.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 27,076 shares of company stock worth $6,871,496. Corporate 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.