Elizabeth Cook Sells 500 Shares of CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) Stock

Key Points

• Director Elizabeth Cook sold 500 CME Group shares at an average price of $280.11, generating $140,055. Following the transaction, she retained 17,916 shares valued at approximately $5.02 million.
• CME Group’s stock traded near $280.46, while the company reported quarterly EPS of $2.99 and revenue of $1.71 billion, both exceeding analyst expectations. The company also declared a $1.30 quarterly dividend, equivalent to a 1.9% yield.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed, with a consensus “Hold” rating and an average price target of $289.75. Institutional investors and hedge funds own approximately 87.75% of CME Group’s shares.

CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) Director Elizabeth Cook sold 500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.11, for a total value of $140,055.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 17,916 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,018,450.76. This represents a 2.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of CME Group stock traded up $4.92 on Monday, reaching $280.46. The stock had a trading volume of 1,733,746 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,793,321. The business's 50 day moving average is $264.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $276.89. The company has a market cap of $100.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. CME Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $218.31 and a 1 year high of $329.16.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.99 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.91 by $0.08. CME Group had a net margin of 63.30% and a return on equity of 15.60%. The company had revenue of $1.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.68 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.96 EPS. The firm's revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 12.27 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 9th will be paid a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 9th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. CME Group's payout ratio is presently 44.11%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CME Group

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its holdings in CME Group by 21,954.4% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 131,243,023 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $28,982,397,000 after buying an additional 130,647,934 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in CME Group during the second quarter worth $6,749,965,000. State Street Corp grew its position in CME Group by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,144,525 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $4,408,747,000 after acquiring an additional 56,725 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,523,241,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of CME Group by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,924,475 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,344,776,000 after acquiring an additional 134,242 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of CME Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of CME Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $286.00 to $270.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $249.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Barclays cut their price target on CME Group from $316.00 to $270.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of CME Group from $324.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $289.75.

CME Group Company Profile

CME Group Inc operates global derivatives marketplaces that provide trading, clearing and settlement services for a broad range of financial and commodity products. Its exchange platforms enable participants to manage risk, discover prices and gain exposure to asset classes including interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, energy, metals, agricultural commodities and digital assets.

The company's principal marketplaces include CME, CBOT, NYMEX and COMEX. Products are offered through futures and options contracts, with electronic trading available through CME Globex as well as exchange-based and privately negotiated transactions.

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