CME Group Inc. $CME Position Reduced by VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al lessened its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 62.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 62,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 103,800 shares during the period. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al’s holdings in CME Group were worth $16,400,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in CME Group during the third quarter worth about $250,000. Choreo LLC increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 8.9% during the third quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 11,967 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,135,000 after purchasing an additional 975 shares during the period. Foundry Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 8.7% during the third quarter. Foundry Financial Group Inc. now owns 10,272 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,691,000 after buying an additional 823 shares in the last quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in CME Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $261,000. Finally, D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its position in CME Group by 0.3% during the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 34,567 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,056,000 after buying an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other CME Group news, Director William R. Shepard acquired 293 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 25th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $268.76 per share, with a total value of $78,746.68. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 263,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $70,761,551.64. This trade represents a 0.11% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $302.50, for a total value of $121,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 25,244 shares in the company, valued at $7,636,310. This represents a 1.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 20,900 shares of company stock worth $5,871,155. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded CME Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $286.00 to $270.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. CLSA set a $367.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of CME Group from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Friday, October 23rd. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $314.44.

CME Group Trading Up 2.3%

Shares of NASDAQ CME opened at $303.14 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $108.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.70 and a beta of 0.24. CME Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $218.31 and a 52-week high of $329.16. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $280.34 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $280.01. 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 (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The financial services provider reported $3.02 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.99 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 16.23% and a net margin of 63.33%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.68 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 12.34 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 9th were given a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 9th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is 42.66%.

About CME Group

CME Group Inc operates global derivatives marketplaces that provide trading, clearing and settlement services for futures and options contracts. Its products cover major asset classes, including interest rates, equity indexes, foreign currencies, agricultural commodities, energy and metals. The company also provides market data, benchmark information and related services used by financial institutions, corporations, producers, investors and other market participants.

CME Group’s exchange portfolio includes CME, the Chicago Board of Trade, the New York Mercantile Exchange and COMEX.