CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) has received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the fifteen brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $224.47.

CME has been the topic of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $235.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays lifted their price objective on CME Group from $219.00 to $231.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of CME Group from $177.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $195.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on CME Group from $210.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $5,587,935.64. The trade was a 1.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Timothy Francis Mccourt sold 1,374 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.12, for a total value of $312,062.88. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 7,275 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,652,298. The trade was a 15.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 8,028 shares of company stock worth $1,811,681 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CME Group

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. CreativeOne Wealth LLC acquired a new position in CME Group during the first quarter worth $315,000. Waverly Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of CME Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,769,000. Interval Partners LP bought a new position in shares of CME Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $7,777,000. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of CME Group by 3.9% in the first quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,822 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $608,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Elkhorn Partners Limited Partnership raised its holdings in CME Group by 3.4% during the first quarter. Elkhorn Partners Limited Partnership now owns 4,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $969,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ CME opened at $238.00 on Monday. CME Group has a 1-year low of $190.70 and a 1-year high of $238.97. The company has a market capitalization of $85.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.03, a PEG ratio of 5.49 and a beta of 0.55. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $225.55 and a 200 day moving average price of $211.96. 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 (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.65 by $0.03. The company 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.25 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that CME Group will post 10.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a dividend of $1.15 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.93%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is 48.37%.

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.