Insider Selling: CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Director Sells 300 Shares of Stock

CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $273.17, for a total transaction of $81,951.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 24,767 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,765,601.39. The trade was a 1.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME stock opened at $277.94 on Tuesday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $100.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.45. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $266.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $247.71. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $190.70 and a 52 week high of $286.48.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.61 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $1.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.56 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 57.52% and a return on equity of 13.62%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.50 EPS. On average, analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be issued a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.80%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.30%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on CME shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of CME Group from $223.00 to $211.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of CME Group from $279.00 to $283.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of CME Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of CME Group from $200.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of CME Group from $269.00 to $279.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $256.80.

Institutional Trading of CME Group

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CME. Ritholtz Wealth Management raised its holdings in CME Group by 11.5% during the 4th quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 4,035 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $937,000 after buying an additional 417 shares during the period. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of CME Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $301,000. Merit Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of CME Group by 47.4% during the 4th quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 5,797 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,346,000 after acquiring an additional 1,863 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group grew its stake in shares of CME Group by 9.2% during the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,383 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $321,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of CME Group by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,410 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $327,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.