Kentucky Retirement Systems Sells 206 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Kentucky Retirement Systems reduced its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 27,133 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 206 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in CME Group were worth $5,334,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its position in CME Group by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 3,625 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $782,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its position in CME Group by 4.3% during the first quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 1,160 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $250,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Lantz Financial LLC raised its position in CME Group by 1.1% during the first quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 4,561 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $982,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Lester Murray Antman dba SimplyRich raised its position in CME Group by 0.7% during the second quarter. Lester Murray Antman dba SimplyRich now owns 7,667 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,507,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Greystone Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Greystone Financial Group LLC now owns 3,282 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $691,000 after buying an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on CME shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $187.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $193.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Bank of America downgraded shares of CME Group from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $212.00 to $177.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Barclays upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $208.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $212.00 to $213.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $209.73.

CME Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ CME opened at $214.76 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $77.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.43, a PEG ratio of 8.85 and a beta of 0.55. CME Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $190.70 and a twelve month high of $223.80. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $207.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $207.59. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.53 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.53 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 12.82% and a net margin of 56.98%. CME Group’s quarterly revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.30 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 9.94 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be given a dividend of $1.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 9th. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.14%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 52.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other CME Group news, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 7,593 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.59, for a total transaction of $1,629,381.87. Following the sale, the director now owns 55,607 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,932,706.13. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Lynne Fitzpatrick sold 754 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Sunday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.99, for a total transaction of $163,610.46. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 13,261 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,877,504.39. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 7,593 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.59, for a total transaction of $1,629,381.87. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 55,607 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,932,706.13. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.