CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) Director Sells $606,000.00 in Stock

CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Director Howard Siegel sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.00, for a total transaction of $606,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 19,873 shares in the company, valued at $6,021,519. This represents a 9.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

CME Group Trading Down 0.3%

NASDAQ CME opened at $307.24 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $109.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.20, a PEG ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.15. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $218.31 and a 52 week high of $329.16. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $282.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $280.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The financial services provider reported $3.02 earnings per share (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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.68 earnings per share. CME Group’s revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 12.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 11th will be paid 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 Friday, December 11th. CME Group’s payout ratio is currently 42.66%.

Institutional Trading of CME Group

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of CME. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in CME Group in the second quarter worth $6,749,965,000. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 39.1% in the 1st 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 purchasing an additional 1,130,587 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in CME Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $867,313,000. Alphabet Inc. bought a new stake in CME Group during the second quarter valued at about $769,376,000. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of CME Group in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $629,771,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on CME shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on CME Group from $315.00 to $333.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. CLSA set a $367.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Weiss Ratings upgraded CME Group from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Friday, October 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of CME Group from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $367.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $286.00 to $270.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $314.44.

About CME Group

CME Group Inc operates global derivatives marketplaces that provide trading, clearing and settlement services for futures and options contracts. Its products cover major asset classes, including interest rates, equity indexes, foreign currencies, agricultural commodities, energy and metals. The company also provides market data, benchmark information and related services used by financial institutions, corporations, producers, investors and other market participants.

CME Group’s exchange portfolio includes CME, the Chicago Board of Trade, the New York Mercantile Exchange and COMEX.