Teacher Retirement System of Texas Raises Holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 29.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 279,062 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 64,045 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas owned approximately 0.08% of CME Group worth $64,807,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group during the third quarter worth about $26,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. grew its stake in CME Group by 570.6% during the fourth quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 188.4% during the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 124 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Financial Life Planners purchased a new position in shares of CME Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Knuff & Co LLC bought a new stake in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. 87.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CME Group Stock Down 0.2 %

CME stock traded down $0.41 during trading on Monday, hitting $262.94. 2,131,559 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,929,391. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $246.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $234.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $94.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.19, a PEG ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.53. CME Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $190.70 and a 1 year high of $267.91.

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

CME Group announced that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, December 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $1.25 dividend. 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 1.90%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. CME Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.71%.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other news, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.83, for a total value of $385,245.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 8,036 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,063,885.88. This represents a 15.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of CME Group 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 21,885 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,453,085.45. This trade represents a 34.63 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 27,076 shares of company stock valued at $6,871,496 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Raymond James upgraded shares of CME Group from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $287.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Citigroup lowered CME Group from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Barclays raised their price objective on CME Group from $257.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price target on CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, CME Group has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $238.93.

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.