Insider Selling: CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) Director Sells $161,818.44 in Stock

Key Points

• CME Group Director Daniel Kaye sold 532 shares for about $161,818 at an average price of $304.17, reducing his direct stake by 10.98% to 4,313 shares.
• CME Group beat quarterly expectations, reporting earnings of $3.02 per share and revenue of $1.74 billion; revenue rose 10.6% year over year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.30 per share, equivalent to $5.20 annually and a 1.7% yield. Analysts’ consensus rating was Hold, with an average price target of $314.44.

CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) Director Daniel Kaye sold 532 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.17, for a total value of $161,818.44. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 4,313 shares in the company, valued at $1,311,885.21. This represents a 10.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME traded up $4.57 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $309.09. 1,772,684 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,481,638. CME Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $218.31 and a 1-year high of $329.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $110.63 billion, a PE ratio of 25.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The business's 50 day moving average price is $283.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $280.92.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 21st. The financial services provider reported $3.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.99 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.71 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 63.33% and a return on equity of 16.23%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.68 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 12.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 11th will be paid a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 11th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. CME Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.66%.

Institutional Trading of CME Group

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of CME Group during the 2nd quarter worth about $612,000. Focus Financial Network Inc. bought a new stake in CME Group in the third quarter valued at about $1,513,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new stake in CME Group in the second quarter valued at about $53,671,000. Haverford Trust Co acquired a new position in CME Group in the second quarter worth about $13,818,000. Finally, Bowie Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in CME Group in the second quarter worth about $22,991,000. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on CME shares. UBS Group boosted their price objective on CME Group from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded CME Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, October 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded CME Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their target price for the company from $286.00 to $270.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $330.00 target price (up from $295.00) on shares of CME Group in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on CME Group from $315.00 to $333.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $314.44.

About CME Group

CME Group operates a global marketplace for derivatives and other financial products. Through its exchanges—CME, CBOT, NYMEX and COMEX—it offers futures and options contracts tied to interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, energy, agricultural products and metals. The company also provides clearing and settlement services, market data and related products. Its electronic trading platform, CME Globex, supports access to its markets by participants around the world, alongside its open-outcry and privately negotiated trading services.

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