CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) Hits New 52-Week High – Here’s What Happened

CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) reached a new 52-week high on Monday . The company traded as high as $312.00 and last traded at $310.4620, with a volume of 133907 shares. The stock had previously closed at $308.09.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CME has been the subject of several analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of CME Group from $264.00 to $266.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $319.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on CME Group from $296.00 to $313.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on CME Group from $312.00 to $316.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on CME Group from $201.00 to $209.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $299.53.

CME Group Trading Up 0.9%

The firm has a market capitalization of $112.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.86, a PEG ratio of 3.60 and a beta of 0.27. The business’s 50 day moving average is $283.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $274.74. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.77 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.75 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.64 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 62.45% and a return on equity of 14.65%. CME Group’s revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.52 EPS. Analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other news, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $269.55, for a total transaction of $6,738,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 65,804 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,737,468.20. This trade represents a 27.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.90, for a total transaction of $91,770.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 24,999 shares in the company, valued at $7,647,194.10. The trade was a 1.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 26,048 shares of company stock worth $7,054,920. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of CME Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. MV Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in CME Group during the 4th quarter valued at $2,683,000. Cambient Family Office LLC acquired a new stake in CME Group during the 4th quarter worth $235,000. Compound Planning Inc. grew its holdings in CME Group by 11.5% during the 4th quarter. Compound Planning Inc. now owns 5,431 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,483,000 after acquiring an additional 560 shares during the period. TMB Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 4th quarter valued at $2,230,000. Finally, Evansbrook LLC acquired a new position in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at $640,000. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About CME Group

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.