CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) Sets New 1-Year High – Here’s What Happened

CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $230.71 and last traded at $230.23, with a volume of 868435 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $227.56.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on CME. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on CME Group from $212.00 to $213.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on CME Group from $245.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $235.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of CME Group from $187.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, CME Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $224.47.

CME Group Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The company has a 50-day moving average of $222.80 and a 200-day moving average of $210.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $82.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.20 and a beta of 0.55.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.65 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.39% and a net margin of 57.34%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.25 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a dividend of $1.15 per share. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.37%.

Insider Activity

In other CME Group news, Director Timothy S. Bitsberger sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.96, for a total value of $226,960.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,589 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,403,279.44. This trade represents a 8.63 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 7,593 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.59, for a total value of $1,629,381.87. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 55,607 shares in the company, valued at $11,932,706.13. This trade represents a 12.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 15,621 shares of company stock worth $3,441,063 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CME Group

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CME. Truvestments Capital LLC acquired a new stake in CME Group during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Dunhill Financial LLC increased its position in CME Group by 188.4% in the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 124 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd bought a new position in CME Group in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $36,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 66.1% in the second quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 196 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. Finally, Asset Dedication LLC grew its position in CME Group by 515.2% in the second quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 203 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

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.