CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) was the target of a large increase in short interest in the month of January. As of January 30th, there was short interest totaling 5,207,550 shares, an increase of 23.6% from the January 15th total of 4,213,842 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,870,040 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.8 days. Currently, 1.4% of the company’s shares are sold short. Currently, 1.4% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,870,040 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.8 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other CME Group news, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $269.55, for a total value of $6,738,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 65,804 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,737,468.20. This represents a 27.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director William R. Shepard purchased 251 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 30th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $278.37 per share, for a total transaction of $69,870.87. Following the acquisition, the director owned 258,710 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $72,017,102.70. This trade represents a 0.10% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 2nd quarter worth about $1,571,447,000. Sanders Capital LLC bought a new stake in CME Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,006,932,000. Strive Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group in the third quarter worth approximately $636,487,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 746.4% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,049,649 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $559,720,000 after purchasing an additional 1,807,491 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd bought a new position in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $217,656,000. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME Group stock opened at $303.07 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $280.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $274.14. CME Group has a one year low of $244.43 and a one year high of $309.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $109.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.16, a PEG ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.27.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.75 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.64 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 14.65% and a net margin of 62.45%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.52 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that CME Group will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. This is a boost from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 10th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.80%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CME has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of CME Group from $296.00 to $313.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $310.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a report on Friday, February 6th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on CME Group from $304.00 to $302.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of CME Group in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Raymond James Financial decreased their target price on CME Group from $311.00 to $310.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, CME Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $299.53.

CME Group Company Profile

CME Group Inc is a global markets company that operates some of the world’s largest and most liquid derivatives exchanges, including the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) and COMEX. The firm offers futures and options contracts across a broad range of asset classes — including interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, energy, agricultural commodities and metals — and serves a diverse client base of institutional investors, commercial hedgers, brokers and retail participants.

The company’s core services include electronic trading on the CME Globex platform, central clearing through CME Clearing, and distribution of market data, indexes and analytics.