Insider Selling: CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Director Sells 400 Shares of Stock

CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.92, for a total transaction of $89,168.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 25,067 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,587,935.64. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

CME Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CME traded down $0.53 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $223.08. The company had a trading volume of 1,193,268 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,914,119. The firm has a market cap of $80.33 billion, a PE ratio of 23.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.67 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. CME Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $190.70 and a 1-year high of $230.36. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $220.98 and its 200-day moving average price is $209.58.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.65 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.59 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.39% and a net margin of 57.34%. The company’s revenue was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.25 EPS. Research analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.23 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Investors of record on Monday, September 9th were issued a dividend of $1.15 per share. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 9th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.37%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on CME shares. Barclays increased their target price on shares of CME Group from $219.00 to $231.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Redburn Atlantic downgraded CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $244.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on CME Group from $245.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on CME Group from $210.00 to $233.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on CME Group from $187.00 to $191.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, CME Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $222.73.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CME Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital International Investors raised its position in shares of CME Group by 24.1% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 15,809,175 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,403,557,000 after acquiring an additional 3,069,806 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 11.3% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,283,196 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,038,676,000 after buying an additional 537,758 shares in the last quarter. GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 1.1% in the first quarter. GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd now owns 4,009,068 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $863,112,000 after buying an additional 43,293 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates raised its holdings in CME Group by 3.2% during the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 3,029,145 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $595,530,000 after purchasing an additional 94,302 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in CME Group by 6.6% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,835,075 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $557,371,000 after purchasing an additional 176,004 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.