Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Decreases Holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund reduced its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 8.2% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 10,661 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 952 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in CME Group were worth $2,352,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Y.D. More Investments Ltd purchased a new stake in CME Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 62.2% during the third quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 193 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of CME Group by 66.1% in the 2nd quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 196 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the period. Asset Dedication LLC raised its stake in CME Group by 515.2% in the 2nd quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 203 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New Covenant Trust Company N.A. acquired a new stake in CME Group during the 1st quarter worth about $82,000. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CME has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on CME Group from $245.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $195.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $235.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays increased their price target on CME Group from $219.00 to $231.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on CME Group from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $224.47.

CME Group Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of CME opened at $225.28 on Friday. CME Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $190.70 and a 12 month high of $230.36. The firm has a market cap of $81.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.69, a PEG ratio of 5.26 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $222.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $210.37.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.65 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 57.34% and a return on equity of 13.39%. The company’s revenue was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.25 earnings per share. Analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be paid a dividend of $1.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.04%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other news, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 7,593 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.59, for a total value of $1,629,381.87. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 55,607 shares in the company, valued at $11,932,706.13. This represents a 12.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.92, for a total transaction of $89,168.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 25,067 shares in the company, valued at $5,587,935.64. The trade was a 1.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 15,621 shares of company stock valued at $3,441,063 over the last quarter. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.