CME Group's (CME) Buy (B) Rating Reaffirmed at Weiss Ratings

Key Points

• CME Group's stock received a "buy" rating from Weiss Ratings, reaffirming investor confidence in the company's performance.
• Despite the positive ratings from Weiss, several analysts have varying price targets and ratings for CME Group, with some suggesting a cautious approach.
• Institutional investors control approximately 87.75% of CME Group's stock, indicating strong institutional support and interest in the company.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy (b)" rating reaffirmed by Weiss Ratings in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Weiss Ratings reports.

CME has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Raymond James Financial cut their target price on shares of CME Group from $309.00 to $307.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of CME Group from $283.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, October 13th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $300.00 to $303.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of CME Group from $313.00 to $304.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of CME Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Sunday, July 13th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $284.53.

CME Group Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of CME traded up $0.64 on Friday, hitting $269.54. 1,273,522 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,872,654. The company has a market capitalization of $97.14 billion, a PE ratio of 26.12, a P/E/G ratio of 6.18 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $266.47 and a 200 day simple moving average of $271.67. CME Group has a one year low of $213.94 and a one year high of $290.79.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.63 by $0.05. CME Group had a net margin of 58.84% and a return on equity of 14.61%. The business had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.56 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.68 EPS. The firm's revenue was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that CME Group will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CME Group news, General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus sold 392 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the general counsel owned 7,851 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,056,962. This represents a 4.76% decrease in their position. The transaction 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 stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.47, for a total transaction of $3,229,407.12. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 17,440 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,734,436.80. This trade represents a 40.55% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 13,043 shares of company stock valued at $3,527,956. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CME. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of CME Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,571,447,000. GQG Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 7,676.3% during the 1st quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 2,205,041 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $584,975,000 after purchasing an additional 2,176,685 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 370.5% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,653,957 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $704,068,000 after purchasing an additional 2,089,935 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of CME Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $218,842,000. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 185.5% in the 1st quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,244,608 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $330,182,000 after acquiring an additional 808,740 shares during the last quarter. 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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