Insider Selling: CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Insider Sells 7,140 Shares of Stock

CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 7,140 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.35, for a total transaction of $1,501,899.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 29,256 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,153,999.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

CME Group Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of CME Group stock traded up $1.77 during trading on Thursday, reaching $213.61. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,903,505 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,787,994. CME Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $175.73 and a 1-year high of $223.80. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The company has a market cap of $76.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.10, a P/E/G ratio of 5.19 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $213.64 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $211.42.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.50 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $1.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.48 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 12.45% and a net margin of 56.84%. The firm’s revenue was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.42 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 9.72 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 25th. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th will be given a dividend of $1.15 per share. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.15%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.33%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays boosted their price target on CME Group from $226.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Bank of America boosted their price target on CME Group from $209.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and set a $210.00 price objective (down from $235.00) on shares of CME Group in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Argus raised their price target on CME Group from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on CME Group from $222.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $217.80.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CME Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in CME Group in the third quarter valued at $25,000. Gold Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in CME Group in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Northwest Financial Advisors acquired a new position in CME Group during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC purchased a new position in CME Group during the first quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Harbor Investment Advisory LLC grew its position in shares of CME Group by 966.7% in the fourth quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 160 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.