CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Director Sells $2,600,000.00 in Stock

CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) Director Howard J. Siegel sold 10,000 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total value of $2,600,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 21,873 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,686,980. This represents a 31.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

CME Group Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of CME stock traded down $1.56 on Friday, reaching $264.98. 918,295 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,900,186. The stock has a market cap of $95.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $245.81 and a two-hundred day moving average of $233.74. CME Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $190.70 and a 1-year high of $267.91.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.46 by $0.06. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.62% and a net margin of 57.52%. On average, research analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

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CME Group announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, December 5th that allows the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.89%. This is a boost from CME Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. CME Group's dividend payout ratio is 51.71%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on CME. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on CME Group from $235.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup downgraded CME Group from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Raymond James upgraded CME Group from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $287.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Erste Group Bank upgraded CME Group to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price target on CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $238.93.

Institutional Trading of CME Group

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC boosted its position in CME Group by 108.7% during the 4th quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 12,390 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,949,000 after purchasing an additional 6,453 shares during the period. Meyer Handelman Co. purchased a new stake in CME Group during the 4th quarter worth $6,144,000. Spire Wealth Management boosted its position in CME Group by 37.4% during the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 1,320 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $307,000 after purchasing an additional 359 shares during the period. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc boosted its position in CME Group by 19.3% in the 4th quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc now owns 326,098 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $75,730,000 after buying an additional 52,862 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Unified Investment Management purchased a new position in CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $503,000. 87.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.