CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) Hits New 52-Week High – Here’s Why

CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)’s stock price 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. The stock had previously closed at $229.37.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CME has been the topic of a number of research reports. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on CME Group from $195.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 11th. Bank of America lifted their price target on CME Group from $177.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on CME Group from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $224.47.

CME Group Stock Performance

The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $223.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $211.19. The firm has a market cap of $83.65 billion, a PE ratio of 24.12, a PEG ratio of 5.28 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.39% and a net margin of 57.34%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.25 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.22 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Timothy Francis Mccourt sold 1,374 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.12, for a total transaction of $312,062.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,275 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,652,298. The trade was a 15.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 7,593 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.59, for a total transaction of $1,629,381.87. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 55,607 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,932,706.13. This trade represents a 12.01 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 15,621 shares of company stock valued at $3,441,063. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CME Group

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CME. PineStone Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of CME Group by 137.6% in the 2nd quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,260,644 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $444,443,000 after buying an additional 1,309,097 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in CME Group by 577.9% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 645,330 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $126,872,000 after buying an additional 550,133 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in CME Group by 11.3% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,283,196 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,038,676,000 after buying an additional 537,758 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 21,465.5% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 485,871 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,072,070,000 after acquiring an additional 483,618 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in CME Group by 17.8% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,514,040 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $554,707,000 after purchasing an additional 380,071 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.