CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Stock Now Rated “Hold” by Sell-Side Analysts

CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) has earned an average rating of “Hold” from the eighteen analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $314.44.

CME has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $286.00 to $270.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. UBS Group upped their target price on CME Group from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. Weiss Ratings raised CME Group from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Friday, October 23rd. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $330.00 price target (up from $295.00) on shares of CME Group in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on CME Group from $315.00 to $333.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 22nd.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other CME Group news, Director William Shepard bought 293 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 25th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $268.76 per share, for a total transaction of $78,746.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 263,289 shares in the company, valued at approximately $70,761,551.64. The trade was a 0.11% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Terrence Duffy sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.44, for a total value of $4,116,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 40,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,150,497.20. The trade was a 26.96% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 20,900 shares of company stock valued at $5,871,155. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CME Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of CME Group during the second quarter valued at about $6,749,965,000. Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in shares of CME Group by 39.1% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 4,019,944 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,187,290,000 after buying an additional 1,130,587 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $867,313,000. Alphabet Inc. bought a new stake in CME Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $769,376,000. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in CME Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $629,771,000. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Trading Up 2.3%

Shares of CME Group stock opened at $303.14 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $108.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.87, a PEG ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.24. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. CME Group has a 12-month low of $218.31 and a 12-month high of $329.16. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $280.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $280.01.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued 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. CME Group had a net margin of 63.33% and a return on equity of 16.23%. The company had revenue of $1.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.71 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.68 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that CME Group will post 12.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 9th were paid a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 9th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 42.66%.

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.