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

Key Points

• CME Group has a consensus “Hold” rating among 18 analysts: nine recommend buying, six advise holding, and three recommend selling. The average 12-month price target is $289.75.
• CME reported quarterly EPS of $2.99, topping estimates of $2.91, while revenue reached $1.71 billion versus the $1.68 billion consensus; revenue increased 0.8% year over year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.30, equivalent to $5.20 annually and a 1.8% yield. Shares recently opened at $281.29, within a 52-week range of $218.31 to $329.16.

Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the eighteen ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have issued a hold recommendation and nine have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $289.75.

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on CME. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of CME Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their price target for the company from $286.00 to $270.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Rothschild & Co Redburn upgraded CME Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $316.00 to $323.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of CME Group from $324.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of CME Group from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $305.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded CME Group from a "strong sell" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 29th.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of CME opened at $281.29 on Friday. The business's 50-day moving average is $258.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $278.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The company has a market capitalization of $101.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.86, a P/E/G ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.24. CME Group has a fifty-two week low of $218.31 and a fifty-two week high of $329.16.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.91 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $1.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.68 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 15.60% and a net margin of 63.30%.CME Group's revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.96 EPS. Research analysts predict that CME Group will post 12.27 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 9th will be given a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 9th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. CME Group's dividend payout ratio is 44.11%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other CME Group news, Director William Shepard purchased 325 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 25th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $230.57 per share, for a total transaction of $74,935.25. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 260,442 shares in the company, valued at approximately $60,050,111.94. This trade represents a 0.12% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CME Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Whipplewood Advisors LLC increased its position in CME Group by 2,075.0% during the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Elkhorn Partners Limited Partnership purchased a new position in CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 191.9% during the 4th quarter. Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID now owns 108 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About CME Group

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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