Insider Selling: CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Insider Sells 11,592 Shares of Stock

CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total transaction of $2,888,378.64. Following the sale, the insider now owns 21,885 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,453,085.45. This trade represents a 34.63 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of CME Group stock opened at $245.48 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $88.46 billion, a PE ratio of 25.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.57. CME Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $190.70 and a 12-month high of $253.53. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $235.95 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $225.57.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.46 by $0.06. CME Group had a net margin of 57.34% and a return on equity of 13.39%. As a group, equities analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.18 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.04%. CME Group’s payout ratio is presently 48.37%.

CME Group announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, December 5th that authorizes the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CME Group

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new stake in CME Group during the third quarter worth about $26,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. boosted its stake in CME Group by 570.6% during the fourth quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC boosted its stake in CME Group by 188.4% during the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 124 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC boosted its stake in CME Group by 50.0% during the fourth quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 129 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Life Planners bought a new stake in CME Group during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on CME shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered 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. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of CME Group from $235.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of CME Group from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, CME Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $234.13.

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.