CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Director William R. Shepard Acquires 256 Shares

CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) Director William R. Shepard purchased 256 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 25th. The stock was bought at an average price of $270.53 per share, with a total value of $69,255.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 258,196 shares of the company's stock, valued at $69,849,763.88. This represents a 0.10% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

CME Group Price Performance

NASDAQ:CME traded down $0.20 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $272.83. The company had a trading volume of 2,428,655 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,226,260. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $274.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $256.04. CME Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $193.17 and a 52-week high of $290.79. The company has a market capitalization of $98.32 billion, a PE ratio of 27.45, a P/E/G ratio of 3.70 and a beta of 0.45.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.61 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $1.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.56 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 14.03% and a net margin of 57.71%. The company's revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.50 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th were issued a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 9th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.83%. CME Group's payout ratio is 50.30%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on CME shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on CME Group from $223.00 to $211.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of CME Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and set a $269.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of CME Group from $275.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on shares of CME Group from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, CME Group presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $258.20.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CME Group

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CME. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 29.0% in the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 86,941 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $20,190,000 after buying an additional 19,533 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC grew its position in CME Group by 7.9% during the 4th quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 7,000 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,626,000 after acquiring an additional 512 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc increased its stake in CME Group by 147.9% in the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 2,162 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $502,000 after purchasing an additional 1,290 shares during the period. Rothschild Investment LLC increased its stake in CME Group by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 2,126 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $494,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the period. Finally, Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co lifted its position in CME Group by 31.4% in the fourth quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co now owns 2,052 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $483,000 after purchasing an additional 490 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company's stock.

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.

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