Insider Selling: CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) Director Sells 1,000 Shares of Stock

CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Director Harold Eugene Jr. Ford sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $263.53, for a total value of $263,530.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 1,091 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $287,511.23. The trade was a 47.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

CME Group Stock Performance

CME stock traded up $1.69 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $265.85. 560,777 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,211,024. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. CME Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $213.94 and a 1-year high of $290.79. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $265.69 and its 200-day moving average price is $272.18. The firm has a market cap of $95.87 billion, a PE ratio of 25.75, a P/E/G ratio of 4.41 and a beta of 0.41.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.63 by $0.05. CME Group had a return on equity of 14.61% and a net margin of 58.84%.The company had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.56 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.68 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 9th were issued a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 9th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is 48.45%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CME has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Raymond James Financial cut their price objective on CME Group from $309.00 to $307.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on CME Group from $252.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on CME Group from $283.00 to $296.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Citigroup raised CME Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $275.00 to $300.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on CME Group from $283.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, CME Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $285.19.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Strategy Asset Managers LLC acquired a new position in CME Group during the third quarter valued at $646,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its position in CME Group by 25.0% during the third quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 10,702 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,893,000 after buying an additional 2,143 shares during the period. United Community Bank raised its position in CME Group by 55.9% during the third quarter. United Community Bank now owns 329 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $89,000 after buying an additional 118 shares during the period. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. raised its position in CME Group by 107.2% during the third quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,502,752 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $406,029,000 after buying an additional 777,571 shares during the period. Finally, A4 Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in CME Group during the third quarter valued at $283,000. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.