CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) have earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eighteen analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $302.2353.

Several research analysts have recently commented on CME shares. Erste Group Bank lowered CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on CME Group from $342.00 to $322.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Piper Sandler set a $320.00 price target on CME Group in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. TD Cowen reduced their price target on CME Group from $323.00 to $273.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn raised CME Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $316.00 to $323.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 11th.

CME Group Trading Down 0.5%

CME opened at $245.20 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $88.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.92, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.21. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. CME Group has a 12 month low of $244.56 and a 12 month high of $329.16. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $278.53 and a 200-day moving average price of $287.04.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.36 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.11 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $1.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.77 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 15.42% and a net margin of 63.19%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.80 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that CME Group will post 12.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 9th will be issued a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 9th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.37%.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In related news, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 35,000 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $298.51, for a total value of $10,447,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 55,630 shares in the company, valued at $16,606,111.30. This trade represents a 38.62% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 5,753 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.63, for a total transaction of $1,752,536.39. Following the transaction, the insider owned 27,702 shares in the company, valued at $8,438,860.26. The trade was a 17.20% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CME Group

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. West Family Investments Inc. raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 1.2% during the third quarter. West Family Investments Inc. now owns 3,062 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $827,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group grew its position in CME Group by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 898 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $243,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. Asset Dedication LLC grew its position in CME Group by 64.9% during the 4th quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 94 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC grew its position in CME Group by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC now owns 11,523 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,147,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. Finally, 1248 Management LLC raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 26.8% during the 3rd quarter. 1248 Management LLC now owns 180 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About CME Group

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.