Lynne Fitzpatrick Sells 754 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Stock

CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) CFO Lynne Fitzpatrick sold 754 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Sunday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.99, for a total transaction of $163,610.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 13,261 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,877,504.39. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link.

CME Group Stock Down 0.9 %

CME opened at $216.30 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $77.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.61, a PEG ratio of 8.85 and a beta of 0.55. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $207.08 and a 200-day moving average price of $207.54. CME Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $190.70 and a twelve month high of $223.80. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.53 by $0.03. CME Group had a return on equity of 12.82% and a net margin of 56.98%. The firm had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.53 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.30 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 9.94 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be paid a dividend of $1.15 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 9th. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.13%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.33%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on CME shares. Barclays raised their target price on shares of CME Group from $208.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on CME Group from $193.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on CME Group from $212.00 to $213.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on CME Group from $187.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Bank of America lowered CME Group from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $212.00 to $177.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, CME Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $209.73.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CME Group

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in CME Group by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 33,451,194 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,044,821,000 after purchasing an additional 215,044 shares during the period. Capital International Investors grew its stake in shares of CME Group by 24.1% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 15,809,175 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,403,557,000 after acquiring an additional 3,069,806 shares during the period. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in CME Group by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 14,589,867 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,072,654,000 after acquiring an additional 1,172,575 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in CME Group by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 6,793,988 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,462,678,000 after acquiring an additional 189,842 shares during the period. Finally, Parnassus Investments LLC lifted its holdings in CME Group by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 5,667,384 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,193,551,000 after purchasing an additional 23,583 shares in the last quarter. 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.