CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) saw a large drop in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 4,696,093 shares, a drop of 15.6% from the March 15th total of 5,566,514 shares. Currently, 1.3% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 2,035,239 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.3 days.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of CME stock opened at $287.65 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The company has a market capitalization of $103.16 billion, a PE ratio of 25.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.26. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $306.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $285.38. CME Group has a 12 month low of $251.90 and a 12 month high of $329.16.

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

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 10th were given a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 10th. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.59%.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other CME Group news, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 300 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.90, for a total transaction of $91,770.00. Following the sale, the director owned 24,999 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,647,194.10. The trade was a 1.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Dennis Suskind sold 748 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $224,400.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 2,699 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $809,700. The trade was a 21.70% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 8,539 shares of company stock worth $2,713,821. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CME Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CME. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in CME Group by 11.5% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 10,027 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,660,000 after buying an additional 1,037 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 103.1% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 3,692 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,018,000 after acquiring an additional 121,707 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 1,325.2% in the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 23,572 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,497,000 after acquiring an additional 21,918 shares during the period. Nebula Research & Development LLC acquired a new position in shares of CME Group in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $992,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 287,876 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $79,344,000 after purchasing an additional 7,397 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CME has been the subject of several research reports. Erste Group Bank raised shares of CME Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Raymond James Financial boosted their target price on CME Group from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 6th. Wall Street Zen upgraded CME Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on CME Group from $312.00 to $316.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on CME Group from $313.00 to $329.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $309.94.

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.