Key Points
- Insider sale: CME Group General Counsel Jonathan Marcus sold 3,291 shares at an average of $333.37 on March 17, netting ~$1.10M and cutting his stake by 31.39% to 7,192 shares (≈$2.40M).
- Dividend increase: CME raised its quarterly dividend to $1.30 (from $1.25), a $5.20 annualized payout with a 1.7% yield; ex‑dividend date was March 10 and payment is March 26.
- Operational and analyst snapshot: CME slightly beat Q earnings (EPS $2.77 vs. $2.75 est.) with revenue of $1.65B (up 8.1% YoY); analysts’ consensus is a "Hold" with a $304.06 average target.
CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) General Counsel Jonathan Marcus sold 3,291 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $333.37, for a total value of $1,097,120.67. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel owned 7,192 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,397,597.04. The trade was a 31.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.
CME Group Stock Up 0.6%
Shares of NASDAQ:CME opened at $310.71 on Friday. CME Group Inc. has a one year low of $248.53 and a one year high of $329.16. The company has a 50 day moving average of $299.19 and a 200-day moving average of $280.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The stock has a market cap of $112.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.84, a P/E/G ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.24.
CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.77 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.75 by $0.02. CME Group had a net margin of 62.45% and a return on equity of 14.65%. The business had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.52 earnings per share. CME Group's revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current year.
CME Group Increases Dividend
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be paid a $1.30 dividend. This is an increase from CME Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 10th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. CME Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.59%.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of brokerages recently commented on CME. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on CME Group from $262.00 to $266.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on CME Group from $266.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday. Weiss Ratings upgraded CME Group from a "buy (b+)" rating to a "buy (a-)" rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Erste Group Bank upgraded CME Group from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on CME Group from $302.00 to $356.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $304.06.
Check Out Our Latest Report on CME
Institutional Trading of CME Group
A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Amundi grew its position in shares of CME Group by 24.0% in the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 1,987,347 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $548,150,000 after purchasing an additional 385,225 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp increased its stake in CME Group by 8.9% during the 3rd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 70,712 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $19,106,000 after purchasing an additional 5,773 shares in the last quarter. Alley Investment Management Company LLC raised its holdings in CME Group by 86.0% during the 3rd quarter. Alley Investment Management Company LLC now owns 29,223 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $7,896,000 after buying an additional 13,512 shares during the period. Elevate Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in CME Group by 85.2% in the third quarter. Elevate Capital Advisors LLC now owns 8,519 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,302,000 after buying an additional 3,919 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in CME Group by 310.2% in the second quarter. Victory Financial Group LLC now owns 3,044 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $839,000 after buying an additional 2,302 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company's stock.
About CME Group
(
Get Free Report)
CME Group Inc is a global markets company that operates some of the world's largest and most liquid derivatives exchanges, including the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) and COMEX. The firm offers futures and options contracts across a broad range of asset classes — including interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, energy, agricultural commodities and metals — and serves a diverse client base of institutional investors, commercial hedgers, brokers and retail participants.
The company's core services include electronic trading on the CME Globex platform, central clearing through CME Clearing, and distribution of market data, indexes and analytics.
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