California Public Employees Retirement System Sells 214,807 Shares of CME Group Inc. $CME

Key Points

• California Public Employees Retirement System trimmed its CME stake by 16.2%, selling 214,807 shares and ending the quarter with 1,114,380 shares worth about $301.1 million.
• Insider selling has been significant recently — insiders sold 5,248 shares (~$1.62M) in the past 90 days, including transactions by directors Martin Gepsman and Bryan Durkin and a ~5,160-share sale by CTO Ken Vroman, which could prompt governance/owner-sentiment scrutiny.
• Operational and shareholder updates: CME beat quarterly EPS and revenue estimates, raised its quarterly dividend to $1.30 (annualized $5.20, ~1.7% yield), and while analysts are mixed the consensus rating is "Hold" with a ~$303.53 target.

California Public Employees Retirement System lessened its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 16.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,114,380 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 214,807 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned approximately 0.31% of CME Group worth $301,094,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Caldwell Trust Co boosted its holdings in CME Group by 116.3% in the third quarter. Caldwell Trust Co now owns 93 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA bought a new position in shares of CME Group during the third quarter valued at $27,000. Financial Consulate Inc. purchased a new position in shares of CME Group in the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. Sagard Holdings Management Inc. bought a new position in CME Group in the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Corundum Trust Company INC bought a new position in CME Group in the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In other news, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.90, for a total transaction of $91,770.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 24,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,647,194.10. This represents a 1.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 4,200 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.65, for a total value of $1,300,530.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 43,007 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,317,117.55. This trade represents a 8.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 5,248 shares of company stock worth $1,616,700. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Trending Headlines about CME Group

Here are the key news stories impacting CME Group this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Rothschild & Co Redburn raised its price target on CME to $347 (maintaining a "neutral" rating), implying roughly double-digit upside from recent levels and offering fresh analyst support for the shares. Rothschild Co Redburn adjusts price target on CME to 347 from 333, maintains neutral rating
• Neutral Sentiment: CME’s CEO Terry Duffy publicly warned that U.S. government intervention in oil futures markets would be highly damaging; exchanges including CME have voiced opposition to potential Treasury action. This raises policy/regulatory risk for energy derivatives but also underscores the exchange’s central role in market integrity — a factor that can support trading volumes in energy products if volatility rises. US intervention in oil futures would be ‘biblical disaster’, CME warns CME Group CEO warns against US intervention in oil futures markets US intervention in oil futures market could be disastrous: CME Group
• Neutral Sentiment: Short-interest reporting in recent feeds shows zero or nonsensical values and appears to be a data anomaly rather than a real bearish signal; treat those short-interest items with caution. (Market impact minimal until corrected.)
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: Ken Vroman (Chief Transformation Officer) sold about 5,160 shares (~$1.59M) and SEC filings show multiple recent insider sales across senior staff. While insider sales can be routine, the cadence and size may raise governance/owner-sentiment questions for some investors. CME Group’s Vroman sells $1.59 million in stock Insider Sale: Chief Transformation Officer of $CME Sells 5,160 Shares

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CME opened at $311.40 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. The firm has a market cap of $112.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 0.24. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $295.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $278.99. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $248.53 and a fifty-two week high of $329.16.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.75 by $0.02. CME Group had a net margin of 62.45% and a return on equity of 14.65%. The firm had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.64 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.52 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be issued a $1.30 dividend. This is an increase from CME Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 10th. CME Group's dividend payout ratio is 46.59%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on CME shares. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $319.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of CME Group from $264.00 to $266.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of CME Group from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of CME Group from $201.00 to $209.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $302.00 to $356.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $303.53.

About CME Group

CME Group Inc is a global markets company that operates some of the world's largest and most liquid derivatives exchanges, including the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) and COMEX. The firm offers futures and options contracts across a broad range of asset classes — including interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, energy, agricultural commodities and metals — and serves a diverse client base of institutional investors, commercial hedgers, brokers and retail participants.

The company's core services include electronic trading on the CME Globex platform, central clearing through CME Clearing, and distribution of market data, indexes and analytics.

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