CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) have received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the fifteen brokerages that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $224.47.

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on CME. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $235.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of CME Group from $245.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Redburn Atlantic cut shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $244.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on CME Group from $195.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd.

CME Group Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of CME Group stock opened at $229.04 on Monday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $223.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $211.08. The stock has a market cap of $82.54 billion, a PE ratio of 24.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.23 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current 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 $230.74.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.65 by $0.03. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.39% and a net margin of 57.34%. The company had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.25 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that CME Group will post 10.22 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a dividend of $1.15 per share. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. CME Group’s payout ratio is 48.37%.

Insider Activity

In other CME Group news, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 7,593 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.59, for a total transaction of $1,629,381.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 55,607 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,932,706.13. The trade was a 12.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Timothy S. Bitsberger sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.96, for a total value of $226,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 10,589 shares in the company, valued at $2,403,279.44. This trade represents a 8.63 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 15,621 shares of company stock valued at $3,441,063. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of CME Group

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of CME Group during the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Dunhill Financial LLC grew its stake in CME Group by 188.4% in the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 124 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd bought a new stake in CME Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $36,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 66.1% during the second quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 196 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Asset Dedication LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 515.2% in the second quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 203 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

About CME Group

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.