JPMorgan Chase & Co. Upgrades CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) to Overweight

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) was upgraded by equities researchers at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report issued on Thursday, Briefing.com reports. The brokerage presently has a $367.00 price objective on the financial services provider’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s price target indicates a potential upside of 24.07% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of CME Group from $330.00 to $337.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 9th. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $320.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of CME Group from $292.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $286.00 to $270.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of CME Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 3rd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $300.25.

CME Group Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ CME opened at $295.79 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The company has a market cap of $106.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 0.24. CME Group has a 12-month low of $218.31 and a 12-month high of $329.16. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $276.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $270.49.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The financial services provider reported $3.02 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.99 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.71 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 15.60% and a net margin of 63.30%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.68 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that CME Group will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In related news, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.44, for a total transaction of $4,116,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 40,630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,150,497.20. This trade represents a 26.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Elizabeth A. Cook sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.11, for a total transaction of $140,055.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 17,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,018,450.76. This represents a 2.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CME Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Whipplewood Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 2,075.0% in the first quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the period. First Community Trust NA bought a new position in CME Group in the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. North Point Portfolio Managers Corp OH purchased a new position in CME Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Main Street Group LTD bought a new position in CME Group in the first quarter valued at $32,000. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Key CME Group News

Here are the key news stories impacting CME Group this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q3 results exceeded expectations: CME reported $1.74 billion in revenue, up 10.6% year over year and above the $1.71 billion consensus estimate. Adjusted EPS of $3.02 also topped expectations of approximately $2.99, while net income reached $1.04 billion. CME Group 3Q Profit, Revenue Rise on Higher Derivatives Volume
• Positive Sentiment: Record volumes provide a strong earnings catalyst: Average daily volume climbed to a third-quarter record of 29.4 million contracts, including 9 million contracts outside the United States. Clearing and transaction-fee revenue was approximately $1.4 billion, while market-data revenue rose 20% to a record $243 million. CME Group Q3 Earnings Surpass Estimates
• Positive Sentiment: Management indicated continued momentum: CEO Terry Duffy highlighted record participation and suggested CME is positioned for another record year. The company also returned nearly $1 billion to shareholders through dividends and buybacks. CME Group Earnings Call Signals Another Record Year
• Positive Sentiment: Product expansion could broaden future growth: CME plans to launch CME Securities Clearing on December 7 and is expanding into additional cryptocurrency and digital-asset products, including UNI futures and planned token-index products. CME outlines launch of CME Securities Clearing
• Neutral Sentiment: Key risks remain: The initial market reaction was cautious because expenses were higher than anticipated. CME also faces regulatory uncertainty involving its bitcoin perpetual-futures litigation and digital-asset rules, though the CFTC has urged dismissal of the lawsuit. CME Group stock reaction to Q3 earnings

CME Group Company Profile

CME Group Inc operates global derivatives marketplaces that provide trading, clearing and settlement services for futures and options contracts. Its products cover major asset classes, including interest rates, equity indexes, foreign currencies, agricultural commodities, energy and metals. The company also provides market data, benchmark information and related services used by financial institutions, corporations, producers, investors and other market participants.

CME Group’s exchange portfolio includes CME, the Chicago Board of Trade, the New York Mercantile Exchange and COMEX.