Charles P. Carey Sells 3,000 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Stock

CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Director Charles P. Carey sold 3,000 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.56, for a total value of $817,680.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 5,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,471,824. The trade was a 35.71% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

CME Group Stock Up 0.8%

NASDAQ CME traded up $2.08 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $278.37. 424,205 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,174,731. The company has a 50 day moving average of $265.86 and a two-hundred day moving average of $247.33. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The firm has a market cap of $100.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.79, a PEG ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.45. CME Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $190.70 and a 52-week high of $286.48.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.61 by $0.19. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.62% and a net margin of 57.52%. The firm had revenue of $1.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.56 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.50 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.80%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.30%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on CME shares. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of CME Group from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of CME Group from $301.00 to $304.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Erste Group Bank raised shares of CME Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on CME Group from $275.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on CME Group from $223.00 to $211.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $256.80.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CME Group

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of CME Group by 1.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,643,827 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,190,661,000 after purchasing an additional 400,737 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,389,442 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,946,717,000 after purchasing an additional 104,697 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of CME Group by 89.9% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,280,785 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,923,047,000 after purchasing an additional 3,921,278 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in CME Group during the 4th quarter valued at $1,107,389,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 9.7% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 4,113,991 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,091,401,000 after buying an additional 363,130 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

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.