CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) General Counsel Sells $97,368.96 in Stock

Key Points

• General Counsel Jonathan Marcus sold 376 shares of CME Group at an average price of $258.96, totaling approximately $97,368.96, reducing his ownership by 4.22%.
• CME Group reported a quarterly earnings per share of $2.96, exceeding analysts' expectations by $0.05, and a revenue increase of 10.4% year-over-year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.25 per share, reflecting an annualized dividend yield of 1.9%, with a current payout ratio of 48.40%.

CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus sold 376 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $258.96, for a total transaction of $97,368.96. Following the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 8,537 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,210,741.52. This represents a 4.22% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

CME Group Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ CME traded up $0.94 on Friday, reaching $261.53. 3,139,055 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,825,972. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $212.38 and a fifty-two week high of $290.79. The company has a 50 day moving average of $271.98 and a 200 day moving average of $270.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $94.25 billion, a PE ratio of 25.32, a P/E/G ratio of 4.73 and a beta of 0.43.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.91 by $0.05. CME Group had a return on equity of 14.60% and a net margin of 58.48%.The business had revenue of $1.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.68 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.56 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 9th will be issued a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 9th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. CME Group's payout ratio is presently 48.40%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CME Group

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CME. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG increased its position in CME Group by 29.0% in the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 86,941 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $20,190,000 after buying an additional 19,533 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. increased its position in CME Group by 9.0% in the fourth quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 3,682 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $855,000 after buying an additional 305 shares during the period. Vident Advisory LLC increased its position in CME Group by 125.7% in the fourth quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 17,072 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,965,000 after buying an additional 9,508 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP acquired a new stake in CME Group in the fourth quarter worth $5,026,000. Finally, Waverly Advisors LLC increased its position in CME Group by 32.2% in the fourth quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 10,827 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,514,000 after buying an additional 2,637 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler upped their price target on CME Group from $283.00 to $296.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Barclays set a $298.00 target price on CME Group and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Citigroup increased their target price on CME Group from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Erste Group Bank cut CME Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price target on CME Group from $300.00 to $303.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, CME Group presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $260.60.

About CME Group

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.