Insider Buying: CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) Director Acquires 293 Shares of Company Stock

Key Points

• CME Group director William Shepard purchased 293 shares at an average price of $268.76, increasing his holdings by 0.11% to 263,289 shares.
• CME Group’s latest quarterly results exceeded expectations, with earnings per share of $2.99 versus the $2.91 consensus and revenue of $1.71 billion.
• The company pays a quarterly dividend of $1.30 per share, equal to an annualized $5.20 dividend and a 2.0% yield; analysts maintain a consensus “Hold” rating with a $289.07 price target.

CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) Director William Shepard purchased 293 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 25th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $268.76 per share, with a total value of $78,746.68. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 263,289 shares of the company's stock, valued at $70,761,551.64. The trade was a 0.11% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

CME Group Price Performance

NASDAQ:CME traded down $1.24 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $263.24. The stock had a trading volume of 1,317,431 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,560,262. The stock has a market capitalization of $94.66 billion, a PE ratio of 22.33, a PEG ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.24. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $218.31 and a 52 week high of $329.16. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $269.53 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $273.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.99 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $1.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.68 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.96 earnings per share. CME Group's revenue for the quarter was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 12.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 9th were given a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 9th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. CME Group's dividend payout ratio is 44.11%.

Institutional Trading of CME Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Whipplewood Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 2,075.0% during the first quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Main Street Group LTD purchased a new position in CME Group in the 1st quarter worth about $32,000. Bayban purchased a new position in CME Group in the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in CME Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on CME. Piper Sandler cut their target price on CME Group from $329.00 to $295.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Wall Street Zen upgraded CME Group from a "strong sell" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 29th. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised shares of CME Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $316.00 to $323.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $226.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of CME Group from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $305.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $289.07.

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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