CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Director Howard J. Siegel Sells 10,000 Shares

CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Director Howard J. Siegel sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total value of $2,600,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 21,873 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,686,980. This trade represents a 31.37 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

CME Group Stock Up 1.9 %

CME stock traded up $4.90 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $263.58. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,435,702 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,893,058. The company has a market capitalization of $94.98 billion, a PE ratio of 27.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.53. CME Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $190.70 and a 12 month high of $264.40. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $242.80 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $232.58. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.46 by $0.06. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.62% and a net margin of 57.52%. On average, equities research analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, December 5th that permits the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.90%. This is a boost from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on CME Group from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Raymond James raised shares of CME Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $287.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $238.93.

Institutional Trading of CME Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,772,000. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH grew its holdings in CME Group by 50.4% in the 4th quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH now owns 17,335 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,026,000 after buying an additional 5,810 shares during the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new position in CME Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $59,241,000. LM Advisors LLC bought a new position in CME Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $822,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of CME Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $94,000. 87.75% of the stock is currently 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.