CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eighteen analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $305.2941.

A number of brokerages have weighed in on CME. Barclays decreased their price objective on CME Group from $343.00 to $316.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on CME Group from $342.00 to $322.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on CME Group from $362.00 to $353.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on CME Group from $313.00 to $329.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on CME Group from $266.00 to $271.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other CME Group news, General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus sold 3,291 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $333.37, for a total value of $1,097,120.67. Following the transaction, the general counsel owned 7,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,397,597.04. This trade represents a 31.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.90, for a total value of $91,770.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 24,999 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,647,194.10. This trade represents a 1.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 7,791 shares of company stock worth $2,489,421. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of CME Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 177,061 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $52,295,000 after acquiring an additional 7,786 shares during the last quarter. Oslo Pensjonsforsikring AS acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 1st quarter worth $183,000. Glenview Trust Co increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 31.1% in the 1st quarter. Glenview Trust Co now owns 1,238 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $366,000 after acquiring an additional 294 shares during the last quarter. Atlantic Family Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 1st quarter worth $344,000. Finally, Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 1st quarter worth $107,000. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CME Group Trading Down 2.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:CME opened at $281.25 on Monday. CME Group has a 1 year low of $257.17 and a 1 year high of $329.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $101.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 0.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $301.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $287.27.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.11 by $0.25. CME Group had a return on equity of 15.42% and a net margin of 63.19%.The firm had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.77 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.80 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that CME Group will post 12.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 9th will be issued a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 9th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.37%.

CME Group Company Profile

CME Group Inc is a global markets company that operates some of the world’s largest and most liquid derivatives exchanges, including the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) and COMEX. The firm offers futures and options contracts across a broad range of asset classes — including interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, energy, agricultural commodities and metals — and serves a diverse client base of institutional investors, commercial hedgers, brokers and retail participants.

The company’s core services include electronic trading on the CME Globex platform, central clearing through CME Clearing, and distribution of market data, indexes and analytics.