CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) Receives “Sector Perform” Rating from Royal Bank of Canada

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME)‘s stock had its “sector perform” rating reissued by equities researchers at Royal Bank of Canada in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $235.00 price objective on the financial services provider’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s price objective points to a potential upside of 3.52% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on CME Group from $210.00 to $233.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Citigroup downgraded shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $255.00 to $250.00 in a report on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $237.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $244.00 target price for the company. in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price target on CME Group from $245.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $229.53.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CME opened at $227.01 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $81.81 billion, a PE ratio of 23.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.41 and a beta of 0.56. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $232.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $218.15. CME Group has a twelve month low of $190.70 and a twelve month high of $249.02.

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

CME Group announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, December 5th that authorizes the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Sunil Cutinho sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was 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. The trade was a 14.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 400 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 25,067 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,587,935.64. The trade was a 1.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 7,274 shares of company stock worth $1,648,071 over the last three months. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $313,000. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its position in CME Group by 13.1% during the 2nd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 5,193 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,021,000 after purchasing an additional 601 shares in the last quarter. Asset Dedication LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 515.2% in the 2nd quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 203 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 170 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of CME Group by 1,664.6% during the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 11,276 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,214,000 after buying an additional 10,637 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Certuity LLC purchased a new position in shares of CME Group during the second quarter valued at $206,000. 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.