New York State Common Retirement Fund Purchases 124,800 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 25.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 615,241 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 124,800 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned 0.17% of CME Group worth $142,877,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of CME. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in CME Group by 70.4% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,427,107 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $544,157,000 after acquiring an additional 1,003,119 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in CME Group by 21,465.5% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 485,871 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,072,070,000 after acquiring an additional 483,618 shares during the period. Canoe Financial LP boosted its holdings in CME Group by 698.0% during the 4th quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 544,219 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $126,384,000 after acquiring an additional 476,019 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in CME Group by 17.8% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,514,040 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $554,707,000 after acquiring an additional 380,071 shares during the period. Finally, Baillie Gifford & Co. purchased a new stake in CME Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $79,692,000. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CME Group Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of CME Group stock traded up $0.56 on Friday, reaching $248.88. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,769,890 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,808,714. The company has a market capitalization of $89.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.74, a P/E/G ratio of 6.83 and a beta of 0.57. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $236.87 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $227.00. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $190.70 and a 52 week high of $253.53. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.46 by $0.06. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.62% and a net margin of 57.52%. Equities analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, December 5th that permits the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $1.25 dividend. This is a positive change from CME Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.01%. CME Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.57%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total value of $2,888,378.64. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 21,885 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,453,085.45. The trade was a 34.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CME has been the subject of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup cut CME Group from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Barclays increased their price objective on CME Group from $257.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on CME Group from $235.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $236.13.

CME Group 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.