State of Tennessee Department of Treasury Increases Stock Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

State of Tennessee Department of Treasury boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 12.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 110,183 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 12,279 shares during the period. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury's holdings in CME Group were worth $25,588,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of CME. Norges Bank bought a new position in CME Group in the fourth quarter worth about $1,107,389,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $871,063,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 70.4% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,427,107 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $544,157,000 after purchasing an additional 1,003,119 shares in the last quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC grew its stake in CME Group by 69.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 2,435,823 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $565,671,000 after purchasing an additional 996,498 shares during the period. Finally, Egerton Capital UK LLP bought a new position in CME Group in the fourth quarter worth $223,967,000. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CME has been the subject of several research reports. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of CME Group from $269.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Bank of America upped their price target on CME Group from $200.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Citigroup cut CME Group from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Raymond James raised CME Group from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $287.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on CME Group from $265.00 to $273.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $252.44.

CME Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ CME traded up $3.03 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $266.30. 1,709,100 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,154,016. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $190.70 and a 52 week high of $273.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $95.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.54, a P/E/G ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.43. The business's fifty day moving average price is $258.41 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $241.50.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.61 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $1.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.56 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.62% and a net margin of 57.52%. Equities research analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $1.25 per share. This is a boost from CME Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.88%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. CME Group's payout ratio is presently 51.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now owns 21,885 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,453,085.45. This represents a 34.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Howard J. Siegel sold 10,000 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total value of $2,600,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 21,873 shares in the company, valued at $5,686,980. This trade represents a 31.37 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 27,076 shares of company stock valued at $6,871,496. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.