CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Shares Purchased by Arizona State Retirement System

Arizona State Retirement System grew its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 1.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 105,696 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 1,933 shares during the quarter. Arizona State Retirement System's holdings in CME Group were worth $28,040,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of CME. Wayfinding Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of CME Group during the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC boosted its holdings in CME Group by 122.2% during the first quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 100 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC grew its position in CME Group by 50.0% during the fourth quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 129 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the period. Golden State Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in CME Group by 612.5% in the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alpine Bank Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $32,000. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on CME. Wall Street Zen raised CME Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, July 5th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $301.00 to $304.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of CME Group from $223.00 to $211.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $269.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on CME Group from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, CME Group presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $260.93.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Derek Sammann sold 4,650 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.61, for a total value of $1,304,836.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 8,336 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,339,164.96. This trade represents a 35.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Larry G. Gerdes sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.10, for a total value of $528,200.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 38,651 shares in the company, valued at $10,207,729.10. This trade represents a 4.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 13,400 shares of company stock worth $3,680,610. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

CME Group Trading Down 0.0%

CME Group stock traded down $0.11 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $275.08. The stock had a trading volume of 1,531,570 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,184,968. The stock has a market capitalization of $99.13 billion, a PE ratio of 27.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.44 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $276.58 and its 200 day simple moving average is $259.23. CME Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $193.25 and a twelve month high of $290.79.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $1.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.56 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 57.71% and a return on equity of 14.03%. The company's revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.50 EPS. Analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th were paid a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.82%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 9th. CME Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 50.30%.

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.