Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Acquires New Shares in CME Group Inc. $CME

Key Points

• Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired 134,661 CME Group shares worth approximately $29.7 million in the second quarter. Institutional investors collectively own 87.75% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed, with nine Buy, six Hold and three Sell ratings; CME Group has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $288.56.
• CME Group exceeded quarterly expectations with $2.99 in EPS and $1.71 billion in revenue, while declaring a $1.30 quarterly dividend, equivalent to a 1.8% annual yield.

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 134,661 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $29,737,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC increased its position in shares of CME Group by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC now owns 11,523 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,147,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group lifted its position in CME Group by 4.3% in the third quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 898 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $243,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Endowment Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in CME Group by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Endowment Wealth Management Inc. now owns 895 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $244,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. NBT Bank N A NY raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. NBT Bank N A NY now owns 1,666 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $492,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. Finally, Resonant Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,073 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $317,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director William R. Shepard acquired 325 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 25th. The shares were bought at an average price of $230.57 per share, with a total value of $74,935.25. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 260,442 shares in the company, valued at $60,050,111.94. This trade represents a 0.12% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of CME Group from $267.00 to $245.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Erste Group Bank cut CME Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Rothschild & Co Redburn upgraded CME Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $316.00 to $323.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Raymond James Financial reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $320.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on CME Group from $249.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $288.56.

CME Group Stock Up 1.7%

CME Group stock opened at $285.80 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $102.77 billion, a PE ratio of 24.24, a P/E/G ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The stock's fifty day moving average is $253.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $279.13. CME Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $218.31 and a 1-year high of $329.16.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.91 by $0.08. CME Group had a return on equity of 15.60% and a net margin of 63.30%.The business had revenue of $1.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.68 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.96 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 12.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 9th will be paid a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 9th. CME Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 44.11%.

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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