CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Short Interest Down 8.7% in January

CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) saw a large decrease in short interest in the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,320,000 shares, a decrease of 8.7% from the December 31st total of 4,730,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,950,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.2 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.92, for a total value of $89,168.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 25,067 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,587,935.64. The trade was a 1.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CME Group

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. raised its stake in CME Group by 570.6% during the 4th quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the period. Dunhill Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 188.4% in the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 124 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Financial Life Planners acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 120.3% during the fourth quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 152 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $210.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays upped their target price on CME Group from $231.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Citigroup downgraded CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $255.00 to $250.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on CME Group from $260.00 to $256.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $245.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $229.27.

CME Group Price Performance

CME stock traded up $0.60 during trading on Friday, hitting $236.52. The company had a trading volume of 1,981,697 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,754,316. The business has a 50 day moving average of $234.73 and a 200 day moving average of $222.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $85.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.87, a P/E/G ratio of 5.28 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. CME Group has a fifty-two week low of $190.70 and a fifty-two week high of $249.02.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th were issued a $5.80 dividend. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous dividend of $2.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 27th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is 48.37%.

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

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.