CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) Insider Hilda Harris Piell Sells 5,753 Shares of Stock

CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 5,753 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.63, for a total transaction of $1,752,536.39. Following the transaction, the insider owned 27,702 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,438,860.26. The trade was a 17.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

CME Group Trading Down 0.9%

CME Group stock opened at $302.37 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $297.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $288.74. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. CME Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $257.17 and a 12 month high of $329.16. The stock has a market cap of $109.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.80, a P/E/G ratio of 3.69 and a beta of 0.23.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.36 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.11 by $0.25. CME Group had a net margin of 63.19% and a return on equity of 15.42%. The business had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.77 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.80 EPS. CME Group’s revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 12.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 9th will be issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 9th. CME Group’s payout ratio is currently 44.37%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CME has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Raymond James Financial boosted their price target on shares of CME Group from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of CME Group from $275.00 to $267.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of CME Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of CME Group from $266.00 to $271.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of CME Group from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $305.29.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CME Group

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of CME. Asset Dedication LLC boosted its holdings in CME Group by 64.9% in the fourth quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 94 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in CME Group by 2,075.0% in the first quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC bought a new stake in CME Group in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Elkhorn Partners Limited Partnership bought a new stake in CME Group in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in CME Group in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

More CME Group News

Here are the key news stories impacting CME Group this week:

• Positive Sentiment: CME continues to benefit from solid fundamentals, including a recent earnings beat with stronger-than-expected revenue and EPS, plus a healthy dividend that supports shareholder returns.
• Positive Sentiment: New activity in CME-linked derivatives products, including growing interest in interest-rate and crypto-related futures, suggests the exchange remains well positioned to capture trading volume and product demand.
• Neutral Sentiment: Market commentary also noted CME as an alternative for investors concerned about correlation risk, which reflects the company’s role as a defensive financial market infrastructure name.
• Neutral Sentiment: The company adjourned voting on Class B proposals after a quorum shortfall at its 2026 annual meeting, a procedural issue that is unlikely to change the business outlook but may keep some attention on governance matters. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: CEO Terrence Duffy sold 35,000 shares and insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 5,753 shares, which can weigh on sentiment because investors often view insider selling as a cautious signal. Article Title

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.