CME Group Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NASDAQ:CME)

CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Monday. Stock investors acquired 4,184 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 105% compared to the typical volume of 2,041 call options.

CME Group Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of CME stock opened at $277.49 on Wednesday. CME Group has a fifty-two week low of $224.62 and a fifty-two week high of $290.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $100.06 billion, a PE ratio of 26.89, a P/E/G ratio of 4.35 and a beta of 0.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $271.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $272.83.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.63 by $0.05. CME Group had a return on equity of 14.61% and a net margin of 58.84%.The firm had revenue of $1.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.56 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.68 earnings per share. CME Group’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that CME Group will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be paid a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.45%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on CME. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of CME Group in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on CME Group from $296.00 to $313.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on CME Group from $283.00 to $287.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 13th. UBS Group dropped their price target on CME Group from $285.00 to $280.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, Raymond James Financial cut their price objective on shares of CME Group from $309.00 to $307.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 13th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $287.71.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other CME Group news, Director Harold Eugene Jr. Ford sold 1,000 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $263.53, for a total value of $263,530.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 1,091 shares in the company, valued at $287,511.23. The trade was a 47.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus sold 392 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.00, for a total transaction of $102,704.00. Following the sale, the general counsel directly owned 7,851 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,056,962. The trade was a 4.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 2,147 shares of company stock worth $562,079 in the last three months. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,307,074 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,539,618,000 after buying an additional 130,698 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in CME Group by 3.6% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,178,681 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,524,271,000 after acquiring an additional 319,899 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in CME Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,571,447,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in CME Group by 2.8% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,812,914 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,300,450,000 after acquiring an additional 130,848 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. boosted its position in CME Group by 9.7% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 4,113,991 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,091,401,000 after purchasing an additional 363,130 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

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.