Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado Sells 1,524 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado cut its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 3.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 48,809 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 1,524 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado's holdings in CME Group were worth $11,335,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CME. Norges Bank acquired a new position in CME Group during the fourth quarter valued at $1,107,389,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in CME Group by 89.9% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,280,785 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,923,047,000 after acquiring an additional 3,921,278 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $871,063,000. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 70.4% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,427,107 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $544,157,000 after purchasing an additional 1,003,119 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Wealth Planning LLC lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 69.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 2,435,823 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $565,671,000 after purchasing an additional 996,498 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total transaction of $2,888,378.64. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 21,885 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,453,085.45. The trade was a 34.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Howard J. Siegel sold 10,000 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total transaction of $2,600,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 21,873 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,686,980. This represents a 31.37 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 30,076 shares of company stock worth $7,670,976. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

CME Group Stock Performance

CME stock traded up $4.72 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $277.08. 2,121,408 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,160,868. The firm has a market capitalization of $99.85 billion, a PE ratio of 28.65, a P/E/G ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.43. The business has a 50-day moving average of $260.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $242.86. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $190.70 and a 52 week high of $278.08.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.61 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $1.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.56 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.62% and a net margin of 57.52%. CME Group's revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.50 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.80%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from CME Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. CME Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 50.30%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on CME shares. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of CME Group from $200.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on CME Group from $301.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Raymond James upgraded CME Group from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $287.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on CME Group from $223.00 to $211.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on CME Group from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $256.80.

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.