Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Purchases 60,835 Shares of CME Group Inc. $CME

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 415.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 75,462 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 60,835 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in CME Group were worth $20,799,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CME. AIA Group Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 17.8% during the first quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 16,645 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,416,000 after buying an additional 2,510 shares in the last quarter. Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. increased its position in CME Group by 34.1% during the first quarter. Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. now owns 58,690 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $15,570,000 after acquiring an additional 14,910 shares during the period. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management raised its stake in CME Group by 20.1% in the 1st quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 8,894 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,359,000 after purchasing an additional 1,491 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp boosted its holdings in CME Group by 10.0% in the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 64,939 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $17,898,000 after purchasing an additional 5,914 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in CME Group by 29.9% in the 1st quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,818,590 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $747,744,000 after purchasing an additional 648,591 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Trading Up 1.9%

CME opened at $276.50 on Monday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $265.86 and its 200-day moving average is $272.42. CME Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $222.56 and a 1-year high of $290.79. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The company has a market cap of $99.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.79, a PEG ratio of 4.41 and a beta of 0.38.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.63 by $0.05. CME Group had a net margin of 58.84% and a return on equity of 14.61%. The company had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.56 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.68 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 12th will be issued a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other CME Group news, Director Harold Eugene Jr. Ford sold 1,000 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $263.53, for a total transaction of $263,530.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 1,091 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $287,511.23. The trade was a 47.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Sunil Cutinho sold 11,896 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.47, for a total value of $3,229,407.12. Following the transaction, the insider owned 17,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,734,436.80. This trade represents a 40.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 14,043 shares of company stock worth $3,791,486 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of CME Group from $252.00 to $256.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on CME Group from $312.00 to $314.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Oppenheimer upped their target price on CME Group from $300.00 to $303.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. TD Cowen raised their price target on CME Group from $288.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, Argus dropped their price target on CME Group from $308.00 to $295.00 in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $286.06.

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.