South Dakota Investment Council Sells 2,080 Shares of CME Group Inc. $CME

South Dakota Investment Council decreased its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 95.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 90 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,080 shares during the period. South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings in CME Group were worth $27,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of CME. Asset Dedication LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 64.9% during the 4th quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 94 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC grew its stake in CME Group by 2,075.0% during the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new position in CME Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Elkhorn Partners Limited Partnership acquired a new position in CME Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CME Group Price Performance

CME Group stock opened at $267.79 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $250.89 and its 200 day moving average price is $281.05. CME Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $218.31 and a 1 year high of $329.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $96.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.71, a P/E/G ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.99 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.91 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $1.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.68 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 63.30% and a return on equity of 15.60%. The firm’s revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.96 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 12.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 9th were paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 9th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. CME Group’s payout ratio is currently 44.11%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on CME. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on CME Group from $249.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $226.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $310.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on shares of CME Group from $342.00 to $322.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of CME Group from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Saturday. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $291.81.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In related news, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 35,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $298.51, for a total transaction of $10,447,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 55,630 shares in the company, valued at $16,606,111.30. This represents a 38.62% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 5,753 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.63, for a total transaction of $1,752,536.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 27,702 shares in the company, valued at $8,438,860.26. This represents a 17.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

About CME Group

CME Group Inc is a global markets company that operates some of the world’s largest and most liquid derivatives exchanges, including the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) and COMEX. The firm offers futures and options contracts across a broad range of asset classes — including interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, energy, agricultural commodities and metals — and serves a diverse client base of institutional investors, commercial hedgers, brokers and retail participants.

The company’s core services include electronic trading on the CME Globex platform, central clearing through CME Clearing, and distribution of market data, indexes and analytics.