Hilda Harris Piell Sells 7,140 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Stock

CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 7,140 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.35, for a total value of $1,501,899.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 29,256 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,153,999.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CME traded up $1.77 on Thursday, hitting $213.61. 1,903,505 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,787,994. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $213.64 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $211.42. CME Group Inc. has a one year low of $175.73 and a one year high of $223.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $76.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.10, a PEG ratio of 5.19 and a beta of 0.48.

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

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be issued a $1.15 dividend. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.15%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.33%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Argus upped their price objective on CME Group from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $226.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and set a $210.00 target price (down from $235.00) on shares of CME Group in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Bank of America upped their price objective on CME Group from $209.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $187.00 target price (up from $185.00) on shares of CME Group in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, CME Group has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $217.80.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of CME Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Gold Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Northwest Financial Advisors bought a new position in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Harbor Investment Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 966.7% during the 4th quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 160 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 145 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.