CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) Sets New 12-Month Low - What's Next?

Key Points

• CME Group hit a new 52-week low, trading as low as $219.55 on Monday and last changing hands around $219.37, well below its recent closing price of $221.00.
• Despite the weakness, analyst sentiment remains mixed but generally constructive: the stock has a Moderate Buy consensus with a $302.24 target, though Goldman Sachs recently cut its target and issued a sell rating.
• The company reported strong recent earnings, beating estimates with $3.36 EPS on $1.88 billion in revenue, and it also paid a quarterly dividend of $1.30 per share, implying a 2.4% yield.

CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report)'s share price reached a new 52-week low on Monday . The company traded as low as $219.55 and last traded at $219.37, with a volume of 802152 shares. The stock had previously closed at $221.00.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on CME Group from $275.00 to $267.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised CME Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the company from $316.00 to $323.00 in a report on Thursday, June 11th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of CME Group from $362.00 to $353.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of CME Group from $356.00 to $349.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered CME Group from a "buy (b+)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research note on Thursday. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $302.24.

CME Group Price Performance

The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $273.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $285.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $79.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.77, a PEG ratio of 2.47 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 (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.11 by $0.25. CME Group had a net margin of 63.19% and a return on equity of 15.42%. The business had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.77 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.80 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 12.28 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 9th were issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 9th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. CME Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.37%.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other news, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 35,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $16,606,111.30. The trade was a 38.62% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 5,753 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.63, for a total value of $1,752,536.39. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 27,702 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,438,860.26. This trade represents a 17.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CME Group

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 11.5% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 10,027 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,660,000 after buying an additional 1,037 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 103.1% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 3,692 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,018,000 after buying an additional 121,707 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its position in CME Group by 1,325.2% in the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 23,572 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $6,497,000 after acquiring an additional 21,918 shares during the period. Nebula Research & Development LLC acquired a new position in CME Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $992,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its stake in CME Group by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 287,876 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $79,344,000 after acquiring an additional 7,397 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CME Group Company Profile

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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