CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) Stock Rating Lowered by Citigroup

Citigroup cut shares of CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research note published on Monday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have $250.00 target price on the financial services provider’s stock, down from their previous target price of $255.00.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on CME. Bank of America boosted their price objective on CME Group from $177.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Redburn Atlantic downgraded CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $244.00 price target for the company. in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. TD Cowen began coverage on CME Group in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. They set a “hold” rating and a $221.00 price objective on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on shares of CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of CME Group from $210.00 to $233.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $229.53.

CME Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ CME opened at $229.30 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $82.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.11, a PEG ratio of 5.41 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $232.37 and a 200 day simple moving average of $218.22. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. CME Group has a 12-month low of $190.70 and a 12-month high of $249.02.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.65 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 57.34% and a return on equity of 13.39%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.25 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that CME Group will post 10.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

CME Group Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity at CME Group

In other CME Group news, insider Sunil Cutinho sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.64, for a total transaction of $1,019,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 27,053 shares in the company, valued at $6,131,291.92. This trade represents a 14.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.92, for a total transaction of $89,168.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 25,067 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,587,935.64. This trade represents a 1.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 7,274 shares of company stock worth $1,648,071. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CME Group

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in CME. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in CME Group by 70.4% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,427,107 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $544,157,000 after purchasing an additional 1,003,119 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of CME Group by 11.3% during 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 period. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 21,465.5% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 485,871 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,072,070,000 after buying an additional 483,618 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 380,071 shares during the period. Finally, Baillie Gifford & Co. purchased a new position in CME Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $79,692,000. 87.75% of the stock is owned by 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.