CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Director Sells $294,552.80 in Stock

CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Director Phyllis M. Lockett sold 1,060 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $277.88, for a total transaction of $294,552.80. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,108 shares in the company, valued at $863,651.04. This trade represents a 25.43% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CME opened at $277.41 on Tuesday. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $190.70 and a 52 week high of $286.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $99.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.69, a PEG ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.45. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $266.29 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $247.71. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.61 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $1.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.56 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 57.52% and a return on equity of 13.62%. The business’s revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $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 Announces Dividend

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

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. Ritholtz Wealth Management lifted 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 valued at $937,000 after buying an additional 417 shares in the last quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $301,000. Merit Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 47.4% in the 4th quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 5,797 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,346,000 after purchasing an additional 1,863 shares in the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 14.9% in the 4th quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,561 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,523,000 after purchasing an additional 850 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,564 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $363,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CME has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of CME Group from $275.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Raymond James upgraded shares of CME Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $287.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of CME Group from $265.00 to $273.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $301.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of CME Group from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $256.80.

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.