2,574 CME Group Inc. $CME Shares Purchased by Maryland State Retirement & Pension System

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System increased its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 13.3% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 21,882 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,574 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in CME Group were worth $5,733,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. First Community Trust NA purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. North Point Portfolio Managers Corp OH purchased a new position in CME Group during the third quarter valued at $26,000. Main Street Group LTD purchased a new position in CME Group during the first quarter valued at $32,000. Compass Financial Management LLC grew its stake in shares of CME Group by 471.4% in the third quarter. Compass Financial Management LLC now owns 120 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group in the second quarter worth $28,000. 87.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on CME shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of CME Group from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $367.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. CLSA set a $367.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Barclays upped their target price on shares of CME Group from $281.00 to $321.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on CME Group from $337.00 to $359.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their target price on CME Group from $292.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 5th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $314.44.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Terrence Duffy sold 15,000 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.44, for a total transaction of $4,116,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 40,630 shares in the company, valued at $11,150,497.20. This trade represents a 26.96% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Sunil Cutinho sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $298.70, for a total transaction of $1,493,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 20,037 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,985,051.90. This trade represents a 19.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 33,511 shares of company stock worth $9,714,580 over the last ninety days. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

CME Group Price Performance

CME opened at $315.50 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $285.29 and a 200 day moving average of $281.38. The stock has a market cap of $112.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.88, a PEG ratio of 3.85 and a beta of 0.15. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. CME Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $218.31 and a 52-week high of $329.16.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The financial services provider reported $3.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.99 by $0.03. CME Group had a return on equity of 16.23% and a net margin of 63.33%. The business had revenue of $1.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.68 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 12.35 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 11th will be paid a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 11th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.66%.

About CME Group

CME Group operates a global marketplace for derivatives and other financial products. Through its exchanges—CME, CBOT, NYMEX and COMEX—it offers futures and options contracts tied to interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, energy, agricultural products and metals. The company also provides clearing and settlement services, market data and related products. Its electronic trading platform, CME Globex, supports access to its markets by participants around the world, alongside its open-outcry and privately negotiated trading services.