California State Teachers Retirement System Buys 7,101 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 1.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 594,592 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 7,101 shares during the quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System owned about 0.17% of CME Group worth $138,082,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 4th quarter worth about $1,107,389,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 89.9% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,280,785 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,923,047,000 after acquiring an additional 3,921,278 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $871,063,000. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 70.4% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,427,107 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $544,157,000 after purchasing an additional 1,003,119 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Wealth Planning LLC lifted its holdings in CME Group by 69.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 2,435,823 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $565,671,000 after purchasing an additional 996,498 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CME Group Price Performance

CME Group stock traded up $3.34 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $280.45. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,245,582 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,162,878. The stock has a market cap of $101.06 billion, a PE ratio of 29.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $190.70 and a 52 week high of $282.10. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $261.34 and a 200-day moving average price of $243.61.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.61 by $0.19. CME Group had a net margin of 57.52% and a return on equity of 13.62%. The business had revenue of $1.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.56 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.50 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.78%. This is a positive change from CME Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. CME Group's payout ratio is currently 50.30%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 21,885 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,453,085.45. The trade was a 34.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Dennis Suskind sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.28, for a total transaction of $271,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 2,915 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $790,781.20. This trade represents a 25.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 30,076 shares of company stock valued at $7,670,976 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on CME Group from $275.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of CME Group from $223.00 to $211.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Erste Group Bank raised shares of CME Group to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of CME Group from $269.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of CME Group from $265.00 to $273.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $256.80.

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.