CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the eighteen research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have issued a hold recommendation and eight have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $287.7059.

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on CME Group from $252.00 to $256.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on CME Group from $313.00 to $304.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 10th. Argus decreased their price target on shares of CME Group from $308.00 to $295.00 in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Piper Sandler upped their price target on CME Group from $296.00 to $313.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. Finally, Raymond James Financial decreased their target price on shares of CME Group from $309.00 to $307.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 13th.

CME Group Stock Down 0.4%

CME Group stock opened at $273.19 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $98.51 billion, a PE ratio of 26.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.28 and a beta of 0.28. 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 firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $271.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $272.85. CME Group has a fifty-two week low of $224.62 and a fifty-two week high of $290.79.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.63 by $0.05. CME Group had a return on equity of 14.61% and a net margin of 58.84%.The firm had revenue of $1.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.56 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.68 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that CME Group will post 10.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be paid a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. CME Group’s payout ratio is currently 48.45%.

Insider Activity

In other news, General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus sold 392 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.00, for a total value of $102,704.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 7,851 shares in the company, valued at $2,056,962. The trade was a 4.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Timothy Francis Mccourt sold 379 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $259.83, for a total transaction of $98,475.57. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 9,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,470,463.64. The trade was a 3.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 2,147 shares of company stock valued at $562,079. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CME Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 18.1% in the 1st quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 79,569 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $21,109,000 after purchasing an additional 12,212 shares in the last quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. raised its position in shares of CME Group by 40.5% in the 1st quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 6,060 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,608,000 after purchasing an additional 1,746 shares during the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its position in CME Group by 77.1% during the 1st quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 186 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI grew its position in CME Group by 8.0% during the 1st quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 2,625 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $696,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. acquired a new position in CME Group during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $5,289,000. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

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.