CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) Posts Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.05 EPS

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The financial services provider reported $2.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.91 by $0.05, Zacks reports. The business had revenue of $1.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.68 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 58.48% and a return on equity of 14.60%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.56 earnings per share.

CME Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CME traded up $2.37 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $279.55. The stock had a trading volume of 1,834,736 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,117,443. The stock has a market capitalization of $100.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.06, a P/E/G ratio of 4.85 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $276.44 and a 200-day simple moving average of $262.25. CME Group has a 52 week low of $193.25 and a 52 week high of $290.79. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th were given a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 9th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.79%. CME Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 48.40%.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other CME Group news, Director Daniel G. Kaye sold 500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.42, for a total transaction of $141,210.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 3,668 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,035,916.56. The trade was a 12.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director William R. Shepard purchased 256 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 25th. The shares were bought at an average price of $270.53 per share, for a total transaction of $69,255.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 258,196 shares in the company, valued at $69,849,763.88. This represents a 0.10% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 11,400 shares of company stock worth $3,152,410 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of CME Group

An institutional investor recently raised its position in CME Group stock. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 11.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 10,027 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 1,037 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC's holdings in CME Group were worth $2,660,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on CME shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of CME Group from $223.00 to $211.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of CME Group from $283.00 to $296.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of CME Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of CME Group from $265.00 to $273.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on shares of CME Group from $299.00 to $298.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $261.93.

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.