Teacher Retirement System of Texas Sells 33,302 Shares of CME Group Inc. $CME

Teacher Retirement System of Texas reduced its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 22.0% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 118,234 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 33,302 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in CME Group were worth $32,588,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 256.9% during the first quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,662 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $971,000 after purchasing an additional 2,636 shares in the last quarter. OMNI 360 Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in shares of CME Group during the first quarter worth approximately $367,000. Fulcrum Equity Management acquired a new position in shares of CME Group during the first quarter worth approximately $258,000. AIA Group Ltd lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 17.8% during the first quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 16,645 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,416,000 after purchasing an additional 2,510 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Insight Inv LLC acquired a new position in shares of CME Group during the first quarter worth approximately $2,712,000. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CME Group Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:CME opened at $271.09 on Tuesday. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $213.94 and a 52 week high of $290.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The company has a market capitalization of $97.70 billion, a PE ratio of 26.27, a PEG ratio of 6.65 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $266.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $272.02.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.63 by $0.05. CME Group had a net margin of 58.84% and a return on equity of 14.61%. The firm had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.56 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.68 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 9th were paid a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 9th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.45%.

Insider Activity

In other news, General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus sold 392 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.00, for a total transaction of $102,704.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel owned 7,851 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,056,962. This represents a 4.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director William R. Shepard acquired 262 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 25th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $265.19 per share, with a total value of $69,479.78. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 258,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $68,540,742.21. This represents a 0.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 13,043 shares of company stock worth $3,527,956 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on CME. Raymond James Financial reduced their target price on shares of CME Group from $309.00 to $307.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 13th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of CME Group from $288.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Citigroup raised shares of CME Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $275.00 to $300.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of CME Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Sunday, July 13th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on shares of CME Group from $298.00 to $280.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $284.53.

CME Group Company Profile

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.