CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Given Average Rating of "Hold" by Brokerages

Key Points

• CME Group Inc. has received a consensus rating of "Hold" from 16 rating firms, with two selling, seven holding, and seven buying the stock.
• The average 12-month price target for CME Group by brokerages is $283.71, reflecting mixed outlooks from analysts.
• The company recently paid a quarterly dividend of $1.25 per share, indicating a dividend yield of 1.9% and a payout ratio of 48.4%.

CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the sixteen ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have assigned a hold recommendation and seven have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $283.7143.

Several research firms have issued reports on CME. TD Cowen lifted their price target on CME Group from $281.00 to $288.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Barclays reduced their price target on CME Group from $298.00 to $280.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on CME Group from $252.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on CME Group from $313.00 to $304.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 10th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reduced their price target on CME Group from $309.00 to $307.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME Group stock opened at $268.15 on Thursday. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $267.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $271.30. CME Group has a 12 month low of $213.94 and a 12 month high of $290.79. The company has a market capitalization of $96.64 billion, a PE ratio of 25.96, a PEG ratio of 6.13 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.91 by $0.05. CME Group had a return on equity of 14.60% and a net margin of 58.48%.The firm had revenue of $1.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.68 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.56 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that CME Group will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 9th were issued a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 9th. CME Group's payout ratio is currently 48.40%.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other CME Group news, Director William R. Shepard purchased 262 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 25th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $265.19 per share, for a total transaction of $69,479.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 258,459 shares in the company, valued at approximately $68,540,742.21. This represents a 0.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus sold 392 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.00, for a total transaction of $102,704.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel owned 7,851 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,056,962. The trade was a 4.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 13,043 shares of company stock valued at $3,527,956 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CME Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in CME Group by 1.5% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,176,376 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $9,695,313,000 after purchasing an additional 532,549 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in CME Group by 3.6% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,178,681 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,524,271,000 after purchasing an additional 319,899 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in CME Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,571,447,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in CME Group by 2.0% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,682,066 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,289,910,000 after purchasing an additional 92,925 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 9.7% during the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 4,113,991 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,091,401,000 after buying an additional 363,130 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About CME Group

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.

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