CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Director Sells $2,600,000.00 in Stock

CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Director Howard J. Siegel sold 10,000 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total value of $2,600,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 21,873 shares in the company, valued at $5,686,980. This represents a 31.37 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

CME Group Price Performance

NASDAQ CME opened at $263.58 on Tuesday. CME Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $190.70 and a twelve month high of $264.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $94.98 billion, a PE ratio of 27.26, a P/E/G ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.53. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $243.56 and a 200 day simple moving average of $232.93.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.46 by $0.06. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.62% and a net margin of 57.52%. Research analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $1.25 dividend. This is a boost from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.90%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is 51.71%.

CME Group declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, December 5th that permits the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to buy up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CME Group

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC raised its holdings in CME Group by 50.0% in the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 129 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC raised its holdings in CME Group by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 1,769 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $411,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. raised its holdings in CME Group by 8.4% in the 4th quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 592 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $137,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in CME Group by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,362 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $549,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in CME Group by 12.1% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 437 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $101,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on CME. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on CME Group from $256.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on CME Group from $235.00 to $269.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Raymond James upgraded CME Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $287.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their target price on CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $238.93.

About CME Group

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.