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

New York State Teachers Retirement System reduced its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 2.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund 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 0.08% of CME Group worth $68,731,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in CME. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. lifted its stake in CME Group by 570.6% in the fourth quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the period. Truvestments Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Dunhill Financial LLC boosted its stake in CME Group by 188.4% during the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 124 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Financial Life Planners acquired a new position in CME Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its stake in CME Group by 120.3% in the fourth quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 152 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CME has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of CME Group from $210.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of CME Group from $260.00 to $256.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $235.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $234.07.

CME Group Trading Up 0.5 %

CME stock opened at $250.11 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $90.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $235.74 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $225.08. CME Group Inc. has a one year low of $190.70 and a one year high of $253.53.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.46 by $0.06. CME Group had a net margin of 57.34% and a return on equity of 13.39%. Equities analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.18 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.00%. CME Group’s payout ratio is 48.37%.

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

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.