CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus Sells 390 Shares

CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus sold 390 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $277.50, for a total transaction of $108,225.00. Following the sale, the general counsel now owns 6,708 shares in the company, valued at $1,861,470. This represents a 5.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CME opened at $281.74 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $267.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $248.16. 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. The company has a market cap of $101.53 billion, a PE ratio of 29.14, a P/E/G ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.45.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.61 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $1.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.56 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 57.52% and a return on equity of 13.62%. The business’s revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.50 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.77%. CME Group’s payout ratio is currently 50.30%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CME Group

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CME. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $301,000. Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 47.4% during the 4th quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 5,797 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,346,000 after purchasing an additional 1,863 shares in the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 14.9% in the 4th quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,561 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,523,000 after purchasing an additional 850 shares in the last quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of CME Group by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,564 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $363,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. Finally, Diversify Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in CME Group during the fourth quarter worth about $946,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CME has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays lifted their target price on CME Group from $279.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on CME Group from $265.00 to $273.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. UBS Group increased their price objective on CME Group from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Raymond James raised shares of CME Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $287.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of CME Group from $223.00 to $211.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $256.80.

CME Group Company Profile

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.