Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Sells 16,895 Shares of CME Group Inc. $CME

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lowered its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 22.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 58,567 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 16,895 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in CME Group were worth $15,824,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CME. Caldwell Trust Co grew its position in CME Group by 116.3% during the third quarter. Caldwell Trust Co now owns 93 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA bought a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Financial Consulate Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 3rd quarter worth $28,000. Sagard Holdings Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of CME Group in the second quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Corundum Trust Company INC acquired a new position in CME Group in the third quarter valued at about $30,000. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on CME. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of CME Group from $312.00 to $316.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Rothschild & Co Redburn upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $297.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Argus decreased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $308.00 to $295.00 in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $295.00 to $302.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their target price on CME Group from $305.00 to $328.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $297.59.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other news, Director William R. Shepard acquired 251 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 30th. The stock was bought at an average price of $278.37 per share, with a total value of $69,870.87. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 258,710 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $72,017,102.70. This represents a 0.10% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $269.55, for a total transaction of $6,738,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 65,804 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,737,468.20. This trade represents a 27.53% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting CME Group this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Company raised cash returns — declared a Q1 regular dividend of $1.30 per share (4% increase) and an annual variable dividend of $6.15 per share (~$2.2B), both payable March 26 to holders of record March 10; this boosts income yield and signals strong 2025 free cash flow. Dividend Release
• Positive Sentiment: New product pipeline: CME is exploring a first-ever rare-earths futures contract and has been reported to be planning launches that could create transparent price benchmarks for strategically important commodities — potential long-term revenue driver. Rare-Earths/Expansion Reporting
• Positive Sentiment: Asia expansion: Reuters reports CME plans to list Taiwan and Hong Kong warehouses as part of an Asia aluminium push — this regional expansion could deepen physical-derivatives liquidity and fee pools. Asia Warehouses Story
• Positive Sentiment: Product traction in digital assets: CME announced first trades in new Cardano, Chainlink and Stellar futures — incremental product diversification and fee generation from crypto derivatives. Crypto Futures Release
• Positive Sentiment: Institutional demand: Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund disclosed a material addition to its CME position (~38,147 shares), a sign of institutional buying interest. QuiverQuant Fund Update
• Positive Sentiment: Volume catalysts: Wedbush highlighted surging volumes in CME’s prediction markets around Super Bowl LX, underscoring episodic volume drivers for clearing revenues. Wedbush Note
• Neutral Sentiment: Board slate: CME filed its slate of director nominees for the May annual meeting — routine governance update with limited near-term price impact. Director Nominees Release
• Neutral Sentiment: Short-interest data appears anomalous (reports showing 0 shares and NaN changes) — no clear evidence of elevated short activity from the available reports. Short Interest Reports
• Negative Sentiment: Sell-side signal: Goldman Sachs raised its price target but to $266 — notably below current levels — which could be interpreted as a conservative view on near-term upside and may weigh on sentiment. Goldman Sachs Note

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME Group stock opened at $301.64 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $279.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $273.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $108.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.03, a P/E/G ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.27. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $244.43 and a fifty-two week high of $309.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.77 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.75 by $0.02. CME Group had a return on equity of 14.65% and a net margin of 62.45%.The company had revenue of $1.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.52 EPS. CME Group’s revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 10th. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. CME Group’s payout ratio is 44.80%.

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.