Lynne Fitzpatrick Sells 754 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Stock

CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) CFO Lynne Fitzpatrick sold 754 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Sunday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.99, for a total value of $163,610.46. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 13,261 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,877,504.39. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

CME Group Price Performance

NASDAQ:CME traded down $0.35 on Tuesday, reaching $218.18. The stock had a trading volume of 1,976,845 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,951,809. CME Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $190.70 and a 1-year high of $223.80. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $206.63 and a 200-day moving average price of $207.48. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The company has a market capitalization of $78.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.85 and a beta of 0.55.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.53 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.53 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 12.82% and a net margin of 56.98%. The business’s revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.30 EPS. Research analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 9.94 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be given a dividend of $1.15 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 9th. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.11%. CME Group’s payout ratio is 52.33%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on CME. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of CME Group from $208.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on CME Group from $187.00 to $191.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Bank of America downgraded CME Group from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $212.00 to $177.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on CME Group from $212.00 to $213.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $209.73.

Institutional Trading of CME Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Gold Investment Management Ltd. bought a new position in CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC bought a new position in CME Group in the first quarter valued at about $28,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd acquired a new stake in CME Group in the second quarter worth about $36,000. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new stake in CME Group during the 1st quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its position in CME Group by 66.1% during the 2nd quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 196 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

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.