CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) Director Sells $161,818.44 in Stock

CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Director Daniel Kaye sold 532 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.17, for a total transaction of $161,818.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 4,313 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,311,885.21. This represents a 10.98% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CME opened at $315.50 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $285.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $281.38. The company has a market cap of $112.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.85 and a beta of 0.15. CME Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $218.31 and a 12-month high of $329.16. 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 (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The financial services provider reported $3.02 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.99 by $0.03. CME Group had a return on equity of 16.23% and a net margin of 63.33%. The business had revenue of $1.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.71 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.68 earnings per share. CME Group’s revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 12.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 11th will be given a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 11th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.66%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on CME. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded CME Group from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $367.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of CME Group from $337.00 to $359.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Deutsche Bank cut shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $286.00 to $270.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $330.00 price objective (up from $295.00) on shares of CME Group in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $314.44.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $6,749,965,000. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in CME Group by 39.1% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 4,019,944 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,187,290,000 after buying an additional 1,130,587 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in CME Group in the second quarter worth approximately $867,313,000. Alphabet Inc. acquired a new position in CME Group in the second quarter worth approximately $769,376,000. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new position in CME Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $629,771,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

About CME Group

CME Group operates a global marketplace for derivatives and other financial products. Through its exchanges—CME, CBOT, NYMEX and COMEX—it offers futures and options contracts tied to interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, energy, agricultural products and metals. The company also provides clearing and settlement services, market data and related products. Its electronic trading platform, CME Globex, supports access to its markets by participants around the world, alongside its open-outcry and privately negotiated trading services.