CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) General Counsel Sells $108,225.00 in Stock

CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus sold 390 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $277.50, for a total value of $108,225.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel now owns 6,708 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,861,470. The trade was a 5.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

CME Group Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ CME opened at $284.07 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $267.83 and a 200 day moving average of $248.97. The stock has a market cap of $102.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.45. CME Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $190.70 and a 1 year high of $286.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.61 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $1.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.56 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.62% and a net margin of 57.52%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.50 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS 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. Shareholders 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 yield of 1.76%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.30%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CME Group

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wayfinding Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group during the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. raised its position in CME Group by 570.6% in the 4th quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC raised its position in CME Group by 122.2% in the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC raised its position 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 worth $30,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 612.5% during the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on CME shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on CME Group from $223.00 to $211.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on CME Group from $265.00 to $273.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $269.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of CME Group from $200.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised 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. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, CME Group has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $256.80.

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.