CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) has been given an average rating of “Hold” by the fifteen research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have assigned a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $229.33.

A number of research firms have weighed in on CME. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of CME Group from $231.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Citigroup increased 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. Redburn Atlantic cut CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $244.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $245.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, TD Cowen began coverage on shares of CME Group in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $221.00 price target for the company.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME Group stock opened at $239.47 on Friday. CME Group has a one year low of $190.70 and a one year high of $249.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $86.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.18, a PEG ratio of 5.41 and a beta of 0.56. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $230.99 and a 200 day simple moving average of $215.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

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

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

CME Group Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other CME Group news, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 400 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.92, for a total value of $89,168.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 25,067 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,587,935.64. The trade was a 1.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Timothy Francis Mccourt sold 1,374 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.12, for a total value of $312,062.88. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 7,274 shares of company stock worth $1,648,071. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of CME Group

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. purchased a new stake in CME Group in the second quarter worth approximately $313,000. &PARTNERS purchased a new stake in CME Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $393,000. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in CME Group by 36.8% in the second quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,540 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $303,000 after acquiring an additional 414 shares during the period. Everhart Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in CME Group by 19.1% during the second quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,635 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $321,000 after purchasing an additional 262 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Family Firm Inc. bought a new position in shares of CME Group during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $92,000. 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.