VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Has $65.89 Million Stock Holdings in CME Group Inc. $CME

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al decreased its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 22.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 241,300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 69,800 shares during the quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al’s holdings in CME Group were worth $65,894,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in CME Group by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,895,583 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,802,366,000 after buying an additional 588,509 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in CME Group by 2.8% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,812,914 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,300,450,000 after buying an additional 130,848 shares during the period. Sanders Capital LLC acquired a new position in CME Group in the third quarter valued at about $1,006,932,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in CME Group by 0.6% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,381,133 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $913,548,000 after buying an additional 20,213 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in CME Group by 23.0% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,830,323 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $764,725,000 after buying an additional 528,358 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on CME shares. Argus reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of CME Group in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods started coverage on CME Group in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $305.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on CME Group from $266.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Barclays dropped their price target on CME Group from $343.00 to $316.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their price target on CME Group from $340.00 to $323.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, CME Group currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $305.29.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In related news, General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus sold 3,291 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $333.37, for a total value of $1,097,120.67. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel directly owned 7,192 shares in the company, valued at $2,397,597.04. The trade was a 31.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 4,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.65, for a total value of $1,300,530.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 43,007 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,317,117.55. This trade represents a 8.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 7,791 shares of company stock worth $2,489,421. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

CME Group Stock Up 1.1%

CME stock opened at $285.75 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $299.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $287.59. The company has a market cap of $103.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.38, a P/E/G ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.23. CME Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $257.17 and a twelve month high of $329.16.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.36 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.11 by $0.25. CME Group had a return on equity of 15.42% and a net margin of 63.19%.The company had revenue of $1.88 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.77 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.80 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 12.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 9th will be paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 9th. CME Group’s payout ratio is currently 44.37%.

CME Group 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.