Insider Buying: CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Director Acquires 60 Shares of Stock

CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Director William R. Shepard bought 60 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The shares were bought at an average price of $227.96 per share, for a total transaction of $13,677.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,432 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $554,398.72. This represents a 2.53 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

CME Group Stock Up 1.2 %

CME stock traded up $2.80 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $235.11. 638,878 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,904,092. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $232.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $219.42. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $190.70 and a 52 week high of $249.02. The company has a market cap of $84.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.75, a P/E/G ratio of 4.93 and a beta of 0.56.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.65 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.59 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 57.34% and a return on equity of 13.39%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.25 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group announced that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, December 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th were given a dividend of $5.80 per share. This is a boost from CME Group’s previous dividend of $2.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 27th. CME Group’s payout ratio is presently 48.37%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CME Group

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new stake in CME Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Dunhill Financial LLC grew its stake in CME Group by 188.4% in the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 124 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the period. Fortitude Family Office LLC grew its position in CME Group by 120.3% during the fourth quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 152 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the period. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. boosted its stake in CME Group by 62.2% in the third quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 193 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MCF Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of CME Group by 25.6% during the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 358 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $85,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on CME shares. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 11th. Redburn Atlantic lowered CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $244.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of 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, TD Cowen began coverage on shares of CME Group in a report on Thursday, September 26th. They set a “hold” rating and a $221.00 price objective for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $229.27.

About CME Group

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.