CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) Shares Gap Down – What’s Next?

CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $319.09, but opened at $309.26. CME Group shares last traded at $304.9730, with a volume of 652,433 shares.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on CME shares. Raymond James Financial decreased their price target on shares of CME Group from $311.00 to $310.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Erste Group Bank raised CME Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on CME Group from $264.00 to $266.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on CME Group from $319.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on CME Group from $295.00 to $302.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $302.71.

CME Group Stock Down 4.0%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. The company has a market cap of $110.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.69 and a beta of 0.24. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $292.99 and its two-hundred day moving average is $278.00.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.77 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.75 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.64 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 62.45% and a return on equity of 14.65%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.52 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 10th. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. CME Group’s payout ratio is presently 44.80%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Dennis Suskind sold 748 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $224,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 2,699 shares in the company, valued at $809,700. This represents a 21.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $269.55, for a total transaction of $6,738,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 65,804 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,737,468.20. This represents a 27.53% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 30,248 shares of company stock worth $8,355,450 in the last three months. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CME Group

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CME. Caldwell Trust Co boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 116.3% in the 3rd quarter. Caldwell Trust Co now owns 93 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Asset Dedication LLC increased its position in shares of CME Group by 64.9% during the fourth quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 94 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC bought a new stake in CME Group during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Elkhorn Partners Limited Partnership bought a new stake in CME Group during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.