CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Hold" from Brokerages

Key Points

• CME Group Inc. has received a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from sixteen analysts, with varying ratings including three sells, nine holds, and four buys.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $1.25, reflecting an annualized yield of 1.9% with a payout ratio of 48.40%.
• CME Group reported a 10.4% increase in quarterly revenue year-over-year, with earnings per share of $2.96, exceeding analysts' expectations.

CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the sixteen analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $260.60.

Several research firms recently weighed in on CME. Barclays set a $298.00 price objective on CME Group and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Erste Group Bank downgraded CME Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Citigroup raised their price target on CME Group from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. UBS Group lowered their price objective on CME Group from $305.00 to $285.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 8th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on CME Group from $300.00 to $303.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th.

CME Group Stock Up 0.4%

CME opened at $261.53 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $271.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $270.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $94.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.32, a P/E/G ratio of 4.73 and a beta of 0.43. CME Group has a 12 month low of $212.38 and a 12 month high of $290.79.

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

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 9th will be issued a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 9th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. CME Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.40%.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other news, Director William R. Shepard bought 256 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 25th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $270.53 per share, for a total transaction of $69,255.68. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 258,196 shares of the company's stock, valued at $69,849,763.88. The trade was a 0.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Sunil Cutinho sold 11,896 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.47, for a total value of $3,229,407.12. Following the transaction, the insider owned 17,440 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,734,436.80. This represents a 40.55% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 13,043 shares of company stock worth $3,527,956 over the last ninety days. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CME. Webster Bank N. A. increased its holdings in CME Group by 206.9% in the second quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 89 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in CME Group by 84.3% in the 2nd quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 94 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Wayfinding Financial LLC bought a new position in CME Group in the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC lifted its position in CME Group by 122.2% in the first quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 100 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. Finally, Sagard Holdings Management Inc. acquired a new stake in CME Group in the second quarter worth approximately $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.

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