Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Invests $5.43 Million in CME Group Inc. $CME

Key Points

• Louisiana State Employees Retirement System opened a new position in CME Group during the first quarter, buying 18,400 shares worth about $5.43 million.
• CME Group reported strong first-quarter results, with EPS of $3.36 beating estimates and revenue of $1.88 billion topping forecasts, while revenue rose 14.5% year over year.
• The company also paid a quarterly dividend of $1.30 per share, and analysts remain generally constructive with a Moderate Buy consensus and an average price target of $302.24.

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 18,400 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $5,434,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CME. Asset Dedication LLC raised its position in CME Group by 64.9% in the fourth quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 94 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the period. FNY Investment Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of CME Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Elkhorn Partners Limited Partnership purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 191.9% in the 4th quarter. Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID now owns 108 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CME has been the subject of several research reports. UBS Group reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of CME Group in a report on Monday, June 15th. Raymond James Financial upped their price target on CME Group from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded CME Group from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $305.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Barclays decreased their price objective on CME Group from $343.00 to $316.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of CME Group from $362.00 to $353.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $302.24.

CME Group Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of CME stock opened at $221.00 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $80.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.86, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.21. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $273.13 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $285.74. CME Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $220.73 and a 1 year high of $329.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.36 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.11 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $1.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.77 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 15.42% and a net margin of 63.19%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.80 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 12.28 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 9th were paid a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 9th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. CME Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.37%.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other news, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 35,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $298.51, for a total value of $10,447,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 55,630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,606,111.30. This trade represents a 38.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 5,753 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.63, for a total transaction of $1,752,536.39. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 27,702 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,438,860.26. This represents a 17.20% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

CME Group Company Profile

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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