CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) was upgraded by Wall Street Zen from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report released on Saturday.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on CME. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on CME Group from $282.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on CME Group from $265.00 to $273.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Bank of America increased their price target on CME Group from $200.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Citigroup boosted their price objective on CME Group from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Raymond James Financial raised shares of CME Group from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $287.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $259.87.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CME opened at $274.83 on Friday. CME Group has a twelve month low of $193.17 and a twelve month high of $290.79. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $276.40 and a two-hundred day moving average of $257.89. The company has a market capitalization of $99.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.65, a PEG ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 0.44.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.61 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $1.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.56 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 57.71% and a return on equity of 14.03%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.50 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that CME Group will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Charles P. Carey sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $265.35, for a total value of $132,675.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 4,900 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,300,215. This represents a 9.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director William R. Shepard bought 256 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 25th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $270.53 per share, with a total value of $69,255.68. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 258,196 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $69,849,763.88. The trade was a 0.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 13,400 shares of company stock valued at $3,680,610. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Wayfinding Financial LLC bought a new position in CME Group during the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 122.2% during the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 100 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 50.0% in the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 129 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 612.5% in the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ransom Advisory Ltd acquired a new stake in CME Group in the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. Institutional investors 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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