VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Buys New Stake in CME Group Inc. $CME

Key Points

• Virginia Retirement Systems has acquired a new stake in CME Group, purchasing 351,100 shares valued at approximately $96.77 million, making CME its 24th largest position.
• Analysts have varied price targets for CME Group, with an average target of $283.71; seven analysts rated it as a Buy, while two rated it as a Sell.
• CME Group's quarterly revenue increased by 10.4% year-over-year, reporting $1.69 billion, and the company has declared a quarterly dividend of $1.25 per share.

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al purchased a new position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 351,100 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $96,770,000. CME Group accounts for approximately 0.7% of VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al's investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest position. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al owned 0.10% of CME Group as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wayfinding Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group in the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Webster Bank N. A. boosted its holdings in CME Group by 206.9% in the 2nd quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 89 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC grew its position in CME Group by 122.2% in the first quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 100 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 84.3% during the second quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 94 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 612.5% during the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CME has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of CME Group from $283.00 to $287.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, October 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $276.00 to $266.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Barclays dropped their target price on CME Group from $298.00 to $280.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on CME Group from $300.00 to $303.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on CME Group from $283.00 to $296.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $283.71.

CME Group Stock Up 2.1%

NASDAQ:CME opened at $267.93 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $267.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $271.38. CME Group Inc. has a one year low of $213.94 and a one year high of $290.79. The company has a market capitalization of $96.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.16 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.96 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $1.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.68 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.56 EPS. CME Group's quarterly revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In related news, insider Timothy Francis Mccourt sold 379 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $259.83, for a total transaction of $98,475.57. Following the sale, the insider owned 9,508 shares in the company, valued at $2,470,463.64. This represents a 3.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director William R. Shepard bought 262 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 25th. The stock was bought at an average price of $265.19 per share, with a total value of $69,479.78. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 258,459 shares of the company's stock, valued at $68,540,742.21. This trade represents a 0.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 13,043 shares of company stock valued at $3,527,956 over the last three months. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.

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