CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) Sets New 1-Year High – Here’s What Happened

Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $291.76 and last traded at $289.8820, with a volume of 349785 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $286.05.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CME has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Argus decreased their target price on shares of CME Group from $308.00 to $295.00 in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Barclays raised their price objective on CME Group from $280.00 to $304.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, December 12th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of CME Group in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on CME Group from $283.00 to $287.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on CME Group from $310.00 to $318.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, CME Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $292.18.

CME Group Stock Down 0.3%

The stock has a market cap of $104.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.27. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $275.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $272.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 12th were paid a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 12th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is 48.45%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CME Group news, Director Harold Eugene Jr. Ford sold 1,000 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $263.53, for a total transaction of $263,530.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 1,091 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $287,511.23. The trade was a 47.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director William R. Shepard acquired 251 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 30th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $278.37 per share, for a total transaction of $69,870.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 258,710 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $72,017,102.70. This trade represents a 0.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CME Group

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 11.5% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 10,027 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,660,000 after purchasing an additional 1,037 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its stake in CME Group by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 57,464 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $15,838,000 after purchasing an additional 654 shares during the period. Capital Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in CME Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $211,000. Truist Financial Corp increased its position in CME Group by 10.0% during the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 64,939 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $17,898,000 after buying an additional 5,914 shares during the period. Finally, PFG Investments LLC increased its position in CME Group by 8.2% during the 2nd quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 3,514 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $968,000 after buying an additional 267 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CME Group Company Profile

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.