Strs Ohio Makes New Investment in CME Group Inc. $CME

Key Points

• Strs Ohio completed a new investment in CME Group Inc. by acquiring 109,724 shares valued at approximately $29.1 million.
• CME Group reported earnings per share of $2.96, exceeding expectations, with revenues of $1.69 billion for the quarter, a 10.4% increase from the previous year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $1.25 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend of $5.00 and a yield of 1.9%.

Strs Ohio purchased a new position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 109,724 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $29,109,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wayfinding Financial LLC acquired a new stake in CME Group in the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC raised its position in shares of CME Group by 122.2% during the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 100 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of CME Group by 612.5% during the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Ransom Advisory Ltd purchased a new stake in CME Group in the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Alpine Bank Wealth Management purchased a new stake in CME Group in the 1st quarter worth approximately $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other CME Group news, Director William R. Shepard bought 256 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 25th. The stock was bought at an average price of $270.53 per share, for a total transaction of $69,255.68. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 258,196 shares in the company, valued at $69,849,763.88. The trade was a 0.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Sunil Cutinho sold 11,896 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.47, for a total value of $3,229,407.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 17,440 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,734,436.80. This trade represents a 40.55% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

CME Group Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:CME traded down $0.08 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $262.30. The company had a trading volume of 1,537,684 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,812,941. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $273.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $270.45. CME Group Inc. has a one year low of $212.38 and a one year high of $290.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The company has a market capitalization of $94.53 billion, a PE ratio of 25.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.75 and a beta of 0.43.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.91 by $0.05. CME Group had a return on equity of 14.60% and a net margin of 58.48%.The business had revenue of $1.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.68 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.56 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 9th will be issued a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 9th. CME Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 48.40%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Barclays set a $298.00 target price on shares of CME Group and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $283.00 to $296.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of CME Group from $300.00 to $303.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $305.00 to $285.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 8th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $260.60.

About CME Group

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.