Suzanne Sprague Sells 1,500 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Stock

CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.83, for a total transaction of $385,245.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 8,036 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,063,885.88. This represents a 15.73 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME stock opened at $251.98 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $90.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.57. CME Group Inc. has a one year low of $190.70 and a one year high of $258.78. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $239.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $229.89.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.46 by $0.06. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.62% and a net margin of 57.52%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current 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 given a $1.25 dividend. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.98%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.71%.

CME Group announced that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, December 5th that permits the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on CME Group from $235.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup lowered shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of CME Group from $256.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their target price on CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $236.13.

Institutional Trading of CME Group

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC now owns 2,378 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $525,000 after buying an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its holdings 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 valued at $1,723,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. BSW Wealth Partners grew its holdings in CME Group by 22.3% during the 3rd quarter. BSW Wealth Partners now owns 1,912 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $422,000 after acquiring an additional 348 shares in the last quarter. Donaldson Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of CME Group by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Donaldson Capital Management LLC now owns 216,101 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $47,683,000 after purchasing an additional 8,180 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of CME Group by 37.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,342 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $517,000 after purchasing an additional 638 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.