CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) Reaches New 12-Month High – What’s Next?

CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $230.86 and last traded at $230.08, with a volume of 544728 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $229.37.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CME has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of CME Group from $210.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $244.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on CME Group from $195.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Piper Sandler raised their price target on CME Group from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $235.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $224.47.

CME Group Trading Up 1.2 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $223.86 and a 200 day simple moving average of $211.19. The stock has a market cap of $83.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.12, a PEG ratio of 5.28 and a beta of 0.55.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.65 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.39% and a net margin of 57.34%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.25 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.22 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a dividend of $1.15 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.98%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.37%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CME Group news, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 400 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now owns 25,067 shares in the company, valued at $5,587,935.64. This trade represents a 1.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 7,593 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.59, for a total value of $1,629,381.87. Following the sale, the director now owns 55,607 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,932,706.13. The trade was a 12.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 15,621 shares of company stock valued at $3,441,063. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of CME Group

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its position in CME Group by 21.2% in the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 48,205 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,477,000 after purchasing an additional 8,443 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its position in CME Group by 429.1% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 47,521 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,231,000 after acquiring an additional 38,540 shares in the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management boosted its holdings in CME Group by 12.2% in the 2nd quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 30,555 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,156,000 after acquiring an additional 3,325 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. grew its position in CME Group by 197.2% in the second quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 6,066 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,306,000 after acquiring an additional 4,025 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 40.8% during the second quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 10,742 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,112,000 after purchasing an additional 3,112 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

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.