CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) Stock Rating Upgraded by Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded CME Group from “strong sell” to “sell,” while the broader analyst consensus remains “Hold” with an average price target of $288.56.
• Several analysts recently reduced their ratings or price targets, although coverage includes nine Buy, six Hold and three Sell ratings.
• CME Group reported quarterly EPS of $2.99 and revenue of $1.71 billion, beating estimates; the stock opened at $285.80 and has a one-year range of $218.31 to $329.16.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a "strong sell" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday.

Several other research analysts have also commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of CME Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $286.00 to $270.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of CME Group from $249.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of CME Group from $316.00 to $270.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of CME Group from $267.00 to $245.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, TD Cowen cut their price target on shares of CME Group from $323.00 to $273.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $288.56.

CME Group Price Performance

NASDAQ:CME opened at $285.80 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $102.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.24, a PEG ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $253.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $279.13. CME Group has a 1 year low of $218.31 and a 1 year high of $329.16.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.99 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.91 by $0.08. CME Group had a return on equity of 15.60% and a net margin of 63.30%.The firm had revenue of $1.71 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.68 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.96 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that CME Group will post 12.27 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CME Group news, Director William R. Shepard bought 325 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 25th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $230.57 per share, for a total transaction of $74,935.25. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 260,442 shares in the company, valued at approximately $60,050,111.94. This trade represents a 0.12% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of CME Group

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Whipplewood Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in CME Group by 2,075.0% during the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Elkhorn Partners Limited Partnership bought a new position in CME Group in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in CME Group in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of CME Group during the second quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID increased its position in shares of CME Group by 191.9% during the fourth quarter. Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID now owns 108 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the period. 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.

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