CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Receives $260.60 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the fifteen brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have given a hold recommendation and five have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $268.1429.

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on CME. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of CME Group from $246.00 to $252.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of CME Group from $305.00 to $285.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 8th. Wall Street Zen cut CME Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Sunday, July 13th. Barclays set a $298.00 price target on CME Group and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on CME Group from $283.00 to $296.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th.

CME Group Stock Up 1.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:CME opened at $268.73 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $96.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.01, a P/E/G ratio of 4.79 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $270.96 and a 200-day moving average price of $270.80. CME Group has a 52-week low of $213.94 and a 52-week high of $290.79.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.91 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.68 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 14.60% and a net margin of 58.48%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.56 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that CME Group will post 10.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 9th were given a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 9th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is 48.40%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus sold 392 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.00, for a total transaction of $102,704.00. Following the sale, the general counsel owned 7,851 shares in the company, valued at $2,056,962. This represents a 4.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Sunil Cutinho sold 11,896 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.47, for a total transaction of $3,229,407.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 17,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,734,436.80. The trade was a 40.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 13,043 shares of company stock valued at $3,527,956. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CME Group

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of CME. Webster Bank N. A. grew its stake in shares of CME Group by 206.9% in the second quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 89 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. Highline Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in CME Group by 84.3% in the second quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 94 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Wayfinding Financial LLC bought a new stake in CME Group in the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC grew its position in CME Group by 122.2% in the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. Finally, Sagard Holdings Management Inc. purchased a new stake in CME Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About CME Group

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.