CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) Announces Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.03 EPS

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) released its earnings results on Wednesday. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.65 by $0.03, Briefing.com reports. The company had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 12.82% and a net margin of 56.98%. CME Group’s revenue was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.25 EPS.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME stock traded down $3.55 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $226.14. 974,727 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,930,957. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The company’s 50 day moving average is $218.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $208.81. The company has a market cap of $81.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.76 and a beta of 0.55. CME Group has a 1 year low of $190.70 and a 1 year high of $230.36.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Investors of record on Monday, September 9th were given a $1.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 9th. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.03%. CME Group’s payout ratio is currently 52.33%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on CME shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on CME Group from $212.00 to $213.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on CME Group from $245.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley raised 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. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of CME Group from $195.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $187.00 to $191.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, CME Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $222.07.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Lynne Fitzpatrick sold 754 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Sunday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.99, for a total transaction of $163,610.46. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 13,261 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,877,504.39. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Lynne Fitzpatrick sold 754 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Sunday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.99, for a total value of $163,610.46. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 13,261 shares in the company, valued at $2,877,504.39. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 7,593 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.59, for a total value of $1,629,381.87. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 55,607 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,932,706.13. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.