CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Short Interest Update

CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,960,000 shares, an increase of 17.3% from the May 31st total of 5,080,000 shares. Currently, 1.7% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 1,890,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.2 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on CME shares. Argus increased their target price on CME Group from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Bank of America increased their target price on CME Group from $209.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut CME Group from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $206.00 to $187.00 in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Barclays upped their price target on CME Group from $226.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $210.00 price target (down previously from $235.00) on shares of CME Group in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, CME Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $215.90.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Charles P. Carey sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.44, for a total value of $586,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 7,163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,399,936.72. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Charles P. Carey sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.44, for a total value of $586,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 7,163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,399,936.72. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Daniel R. Glickman sold 650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.44, for a total value of $130,936.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 14,008 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,821,771.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 54,290 shares of company stock valued at $11,393,700 in the last ninety days. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CME Group

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in CME. Gold Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in CME Group during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC acquired a new stake in CME Group during the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. Northwest Financial Advisors acquired a new stake in CME Group during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in CME Group by 966.7% during the 4th quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 160 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in CME Group during the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Trading Up 0.5 %

NASDAQ CME opened at $196.60 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $70.79 billion, a PE ratio of 22.37, a PEG ratio of 5.16 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. CME Group has a 12 month low of $180.11 and a 12 month high of $223.80. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $205.30 and a 200-day moving average of $208.61.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.44 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $1.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.48 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 12.45% and a net margin of 56.84%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.42 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that CME Group will post 9.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th were issued a $1.15 dividend. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 7th. CME Group’s payout ratio is presently 52.33%.

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.