Elizabeth A. Cook Sells 1,000 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Stock

CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Director Elizabeth A. Cook sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $211.52, for a total value of $211,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,241 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,858,336.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

CME Group Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of CME opened at $211.48 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $212.05 and its 200 day moving average is $211.33. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. CME Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $175.73 and a 12-month high of $223.80. The company has a market capitalization of $76.15 billion, a PE ratio of 24.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.59 and a beta of 0.48.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.44 by $0.06. CME Group had a net margin of 56.84% and a return on equity of 12.45%. The firm had revenue of $1.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.48 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.42 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 9.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be issued a dividend of $1.15 per share. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.33%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in CME Group during the fourth quarter valued at $959,260,000. Capital International Investors raised its position in shares of CME Group by 24.1% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 15,809,175 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,403,557,000 after buying an additional 3,069,806 shares in the last quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC bought a new position in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $253,563,000. Capital World Investors grew its position in CME Group by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 14,589,867 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,072,654,000 after acquiring an additional 1,172,575 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased its stake in CME Group by 31.5% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,858,967 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $972,863,000 after acquiring an additional 1,163,103 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $198.00 to $206.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $209.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on CME Group from $222.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and set a $210.00 price target (down previously from $235.00) on shares of CME Group in a report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Argus raised their price objective on CME Group from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, CME Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $217.80.

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.