CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Insider Hilda Harris Piell Sells 3,984 Shares

CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 3,984 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.47, for a total transaction of $997,872.48. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 27,046 shares in the company, valued at $6,774,211.62. This represents a 12.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

CME Group Trading Up 1.2 %

CME stock traded up $2.91 during trading on Friday, reaching $252.76. The company had a trading volume of 1,075,276 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,775,928. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $190.70 and a 52 week high of $254.40. The business has a 50 day moving average of $238.12 and a 200 day moving average of $228.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The company has a market cap of $91.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.07, a PEG ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.57.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.46 by $0.06. CME Group had a net margin of 57.52% and a return on equity of 13.62%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $1.25 per share. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.98%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.71%.

CME Group declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, December 5th that authorizes the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of CME Group by 50.0% during the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 129 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its position in CME Group by 0.6% in the third quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 7,810 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,723,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC increased its position in CME Group by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 1,769 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $411,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 8.4% in the fourth quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 592 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $137,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the period. Finally, Waldron Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in CME Group by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,362 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $549,000 after buying an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays increased their price target on CME Group from $257.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Citigroup downgraded CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on CME Group from $256.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $236.13.

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.