CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) General Counsel Sells $102,704.00 in Stock

Key Points

• Jonathan Marcus, General Counsel of CME Group, sold 392 shares at an average price of $262.00, totaling $102,704.00, which decreased his ownership stake by 4.76%.
• CME Group reported a 10.4% increase in revenue year-over-year, achieving $1.69 billion with earnings per share of $2.96, surpassing analysts' estimates.
• The company plans to distribute a quarterly dividend of $1.25 per share, offering an annualized yield of 1.9% and a payout ratio of 48.40%.

CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus sold 392 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.00, for a total value of $102,704.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel directly owned 7,851 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,056,962. This represents a 4.76% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

CME Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ CME traded down $0.45 during trading on Monday, reaching $261.08. 1,143,012 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,903,585. The stock has a market capitalization of $94.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.27, a PEG ratio of 4.73 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $212.60 and a fifty-two week high of $290.79. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $271.66 and a 200-day moving average price of $270.86.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.91 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.68 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 14.60% and a net margin of 58.48%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.56 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 9th will be paid a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 9th. CME Group's payout ratio is 48.40%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CME Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 1.5% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,176,376 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $9,695,313,000 after acquiring an additional 532,549 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in CME Group by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,178,681 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,524,271,000 after buying an additional 319,899 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of CME Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,571,447,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 2.0% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,682,066 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,289,910,000 after buying an additional 92,925 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 9.7% during the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 4,113,991 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,091,401,000 after acquiring an additional 363,130 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Citigroup boosted their price objective on CME Group from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Barclays set a $298.00 target price on shares of CME Group and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of CME Group from $305.00 to $285.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 8th. Wall Street Zen cut CME Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Sunday, July 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of CME Group from $283.00 to $296.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, CME Group has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $260.60.

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.