CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,320,000 shares, a decrease of 8.7% from the December 31st total of 4,730,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,950,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.2 days.

CME Group Price Performance

NASDAQ CME traded up $0.60 on Friday, reaching $236.52. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,981,697 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,754,316. CME Group has a 52 week low of $190.70 and a 52 week high of $249.02. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The firm has a market cap of $85.23 billion, a PE ratio of 24.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.28 and a beta of 0.56. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $234.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $222.45.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th were given a dividend of $5.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 27th. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous dividend of $2.50. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.37%.

CME Group announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Thursday, December 5th that permits the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to buy up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 400 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.92, for a total value of $89,168.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 25,067 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,587,935.64. This trade represents a 1.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CME Group

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of CME Group in the third quarter worth about $26,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. boosted its stake in CME Group by 570.6% in the fourth quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of CME Group by 188.4% during the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 124 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the period. Financial Life Planners acquired a new position in shares of CME Group during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its position in shares of CME Group by 120.3% in the 4th quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 152 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on CME shares. Redburn Atlantic lowered shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $244.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on CME Group from $260.00 to $256.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup lowered CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $255.00 to $250.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on CME Group from $245.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $229.27.

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.