CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Receives Consensus Rating of “Reduce” from Analysts

CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the fifteen research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have given a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $229.27.

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on CME Group from $210.00 to $233.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays boosted their price objective on CME Group from $231.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on CME Group from $260.00 to $256.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of CME Group from $245.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, TD Cowen started coverage on shares of CME Group in a report on Thursday, September 26th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $221.00 price objective on the stock.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other CME Group news, insider Sunil Cutinho sold 4,500 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.64, for a total value of $1,019,880.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 27,053 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,131,291.92. The trade was a 14.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.92, for a total value of $89,168.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 25,067 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,587,935.64. This represents a 1.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 7,274 shares of company stock valued at $1,648,071. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CME Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 70.4% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,427,107 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $544,157,000 after purchasing an additional 1,003,119 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in 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 purchasing an additional 537,758 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in CME Group by 21,465.5% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 485,871 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,072,070,000 after buying an additional 483,618 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in CME Group by 17.8% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,514,040 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $554,707,000 after buying an additional 380,071 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baillie Gifford & Co. acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $79,692,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME opened at $229.45 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $82.69 billion, a PE ratio of 24.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.41 and a beta of 0.56. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $232.68 and its 200 day moving average price is $219.11. 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 has a 12-month low of $190.70 and a 12-month high of $249.02.

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

CME Group declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, December 5th that permits the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to purchase up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

CME Group Increases Dividend

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

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.