CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) Hits New 12-Month High at $223.94

CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $223.94 and last traded at $223.57, with a volume of 345450 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $220.65.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on CME shares. Barclays boosted their target price on CME Group from $208.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of CME Group from $193.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of CME Group in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $221.00 price objective on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of CME Group from $212.00 to $213.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $212.54.

CME Group Stock Up 1.6 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $80.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.10, a PEG ratio of 8.74 and a beta of 0.55. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $210.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $207.42.

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

CME Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 9th were given a dividend of $1.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 9th. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.05%. CME Group’s payout ratio is currently 52.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Lynne Fitzpatrick sold 754 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Sunday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.99, for a total transaction of $163,610.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 13,261 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,877,504.39. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CFO Lynne Fitzpatrick sold 754 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Sunday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.99, for a total value of $163,610.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 13,261 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,877,504.39. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 7,593 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.59, for a total transaction of $1,629,381.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 55,607 shares in the company, valued at $11,932,706.13. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of CME Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Salomon & Ludwin LLC purchased a new position in shares of CME Group during the 1st quarter worth $28,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd acquired a new position in shares of CME Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $36,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 66.1% during the 2nd quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 196 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Asset Dedication LLC increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 515.2% during the 2nd quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 203 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of CME Group in the 1st quarter worth $41,000. 87.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.