CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) Hits New 52-Week High – Here’s What Happened

CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $230.86 and last traded at $230.08, with a volume of 544728 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $229.37.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Barclays increased their target price on CME Group from $219.00 to $231.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $235.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of CME Group from $195.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of CME Group from $245.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, TD Cowen started coverage on shares of CME Group in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. They set a “hold” rating and a $221.00 price objective for the company. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $224.47.

CME Group Trading Up 1.3 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $85.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.29 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $224.60 and its 200 day moving average is $211.56.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.65 by $0.03. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.39% and a net margin of 57.34%. The firm had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.59 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.25 EPS. CME Group’s revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.22 earnings per share for the current 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 given a dividend of $1.15 per share. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. CME Group’s payout ratio is 48.37%.

Insider Activity

In other CME Group news, Director Timothy S. Bitsberger sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.96, for a total value of $226,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 10,589 shares in the company, valued at $2,403,279.44. This represents a 8.63 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The shares were 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 approximately $5,587,935.64. This represents 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 worth $3,441,063 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of CME Group

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 8.0% in the first quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 1,078 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $232,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. grew its holdings in CME Group by 0.9% during the first quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. now owns 17,060 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,673,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new position in shares of CME Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $15,017,000. Atria Investments Inc lifted its stake in shares of CME Group by 7.4% in the first quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 30,295 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,522,000 after buying an additional 2,096 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 429.1% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 47,521 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,231,000 after buying an additional 38,540 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.