CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) CEO Terrence Duffy Sells 25,000 Shares

CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) CEO Terrence Duffy sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $269.55, for a total transaction of $6,738,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 65,804 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,737,468.20. This represents a 27.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of CME Group stock traded down $0.63 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $272.92. The company had a trading volume of 973,270 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,184,120. 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 fifty day simple moving average of $271.85 and a 200 day simple moving average of $272.22. CME Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $224.62 and a 1-year high of $290.79. The company has a market capitalization of $98.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.08 and a beta of 0.28.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.63 by $0.05. CME Group had a return on equity of 14.61% and a net margin of 58.84%.The firm had revenue of $1.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.56 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.68 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be given a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.45%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CME Group

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CME. Caldwell Trust Co grew its position in CME Group by 116.3% in the third quarter. Caldwell Trust Co now owns 93 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Webster Bank N. A. grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 206.9% during the 2nd quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 89 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in CME Group by 84.3% during the 2nd quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 94 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA bought a new position in CME Group in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Financial Consulate Inc. bought a new position in CME Group in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on CME shares. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of CME Group from $296.00 to $313.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of CME Group from $313.00 to $304.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on CME Group from $282.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Barclays upped their price objective on CME Group from $280.00 to $304.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Citigroup upgraded CME Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $275.00 to $300.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $290.00.

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.