CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) Shares Gap Down – Time to Sell?

CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)’s share price gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $319.09, but opened at $309.26. CME Group shares last traded at $304.9730, with a volume of 652,433 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on CME. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $201.00 to $209.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $302.00 to $356.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on CME Group from $262.00 to $266.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of CME Group from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of CME Group from $296.00 to $313.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, CME Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $302.71.

CME Group Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $110.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.48, a PEG ratio of 3.69 and a beta of 0.24. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $292.99 and its 200 day moving average price is $278.00.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.77 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.75 by $0.02. CME Group had a return on equity of 14.65% and a net margin of 62.45%.The firm had revenue of $1.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.52 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be paid a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. This is a boost from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 10th. CME Group’s payout ratio is 44.80%.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other CME Group news, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $269.55, for a total value of $6,738,750.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 65,804 shares in the company, valued at $17,737,468.20. This trade represents a 27.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director William R. Shepard acquired 251 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 30th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $278.37 per share, for a total transaction of $69,870.87. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 258,710 shares in the company, valued at $72,017,102.70. The trade was a 0.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 30,248 shares of company stock valued at $8,355,450. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CME. Caldwell Trust Co grew its stake in CME Group by 116.3% during the third quarter. Caldwell Trust Co now owns 93 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Asset Dedication LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 64.9% during the 4th quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 94 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Elkhorn Partners Limited Partnership bought a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. 87.75% of the stock is 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.