Kentucky Retirement Systems Buys 3,447 Shares of CME Group Inc. $CME

Kentucky Retirement Systems increased its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 15.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 26,026 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,447 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in CME Group were worth $7,687,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in CME. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in CME Group by 11.5% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 10,027 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,660,000 after purchasing an additional 1,037 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP raised its holdings in CME Group by 103.1% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 3,692 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,018,000 after purchasing an additional 121,707 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its stake in CME Group by 1,325.2% in the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 23,572 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,497,000 after buying an additional 21,918 shares in the last quarter. Nebula Research & Development LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group during the second quarter worth $992,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in CME Group by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 287,876 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $79,344,000 after acquiring an additional 7,397 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CME Group Trading Up 2.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:CME opened at $265.44 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $251.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $281.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $96.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.51, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. CME Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $218.31 and a 1-year high of $329.16.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.91 by $0.08. CME Group had a net margin of 63.30% and a return on equity of 15.60%. The business had revenue of $1.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.68 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.96 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 12.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 9th were paid a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 9th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. CME Group’s payout ratio is 44.11%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 35,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $298.51, for a total transaction of $10,447,850.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 55,630 shares in the company, valued at $16,606,111.30. This represents a 38.62% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 5,753 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.63, for a total value of $1,752,536.39. Following the transaction, the insider owned 27,702 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,438,860.26. This trade represents a 17.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised CME Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $316.00 to $323.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on CME Group from $323.00 to $273.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of CME Group from $267.00 to $245.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $226.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered CME Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Sunday, July 12th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $291.81.

About CME Group

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.