New York State Teachers Retirement System Sells 7,508 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

New York State Teachers Retirement System lessened its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 295,961 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 7,508 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned about 0.08% of CME Group worth $68,731,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Meyer Handelman Co. bought a new position in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $6,144,000. Spire Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 37.4% in the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 1,320 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $307,000 after acquiring an additional 359 shares in the last quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 19.3% in the 4th quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc now owns 326,098 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $75,730,000 after acquiring an additional 52,862 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,284,745 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,823,964,000 after acquiring an additional 142,692 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 41.8% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,028,090 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $224,432,000 after acquiring an additional 303,169 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total value of $2,888,378.64. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 21,885 shares in the company, valued at $5,453,085.45. The trade was a 34.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CME traded up $2.38 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $247.86. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,316,699 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,848,600. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $190.70 and a fifty-two week high of $253.53. The company has a market cap of $89.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.06, a P/E/G ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The business's 50 day moving average price is $236.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $226.35.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.46 by $0.06. CME Group had a net margin of 57.34% and a return on equity of 13.39%. On average, analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, December 5th that permits the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to buy up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from CME Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. CME Group's payout ratio is presently 48.37%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CME has been the subject of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on CME Group from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday. Barclays lifted their price target 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, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 11th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $234.13.

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.