New York State Common Retirement Fund Sells 44,875 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

New York State Common Retirement Fund trimmed its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 7.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 548,248 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 44,875 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned approximately 0.15% of CME Group worth $115,461,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Naples Global Advisors LLC grew its stake in CME Group by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Naples Global Advisors LLC now owns 2,072 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $436,000 after buying an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Sapient Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,823,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,074,000. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,118,104 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $223,867,000 after purchasing an additional 46,021 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,986,000. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CME Group Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:CME traded up $1.29 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $216.77. The company had a trading volume of 2,048,251 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,779,931. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $214.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $211.89. The company has a market capitalization of $78.04 billion, a PE ratio of 24.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.04 and a beta of 0.49. 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 Inc. has a one year low of $175.73 and a one year high of $223.80.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The financial services provider reported $2.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.10. CME Group had a net margin of 57.83% and a return on equity of 12.32%. The business had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.43 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.92 EPS. CME Group's revenue was up 19.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 9.57 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a dividend of $1.15 per share. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.12%. This is an increase from CME Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.10. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. CME Group's payout ratio is currently 51.86%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on CME. Argus raised their price target on shares of CME Group from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a "sell" rating and issued a $180.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a report on Thursday, January 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of CME Group from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $195.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a "hold" rating and issued a $210.00 price objective (down previously from $235.00) on shares of CME Group in a report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $222.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $215.70.

CME Group 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.