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

Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) have earned a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the ten ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have issued a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $217.80.

A number of brokerages have weighed in on CME. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of CME Group from $209.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of CME Group from $222.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a "sell" rating and issued a $187.00 price target (up previously from $185.00) on shares of CME Group in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Argus raised their price target on shares of CME Group from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of CME Group from $226.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 7,140 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.35, for a total value of $1,501,899.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 29,256 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,153,999.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other CME Group news, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 7,140 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.35, for a total transaction of $1,501,899.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 29,256 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,153,999.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.91, for a total transaction of $8,436,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 67,455 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,226,934.05. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of CME Group

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in CME Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Gold Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Northwest Financial Advisors acquired a new stake in CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC acquired a new stake in CME Group in the first quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Harbor Investment Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in CME Group by 966.7% in the fourth quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 160 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company's stock.

CME Group Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of CME stock traded up $1.77 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $213.61. 1,903,235 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,787,994. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The company's 50-day moving average price is $213.46 and its 200-day moving average price is $211.42. The company has a market cap of $76.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.30, a P/E/G ratio of 5.19 and a beta of 0.48. CME Group has a 12 month low of $175.73 and a 12 month high of $223.80.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.44 by $0.06. CME Group had a return on equity of 12.45% and a net margin of 56.84%. The firm had revenue of $1.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.48 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.42 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that CME Group will post 9.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be issued a dividend of $1.15 per share. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.15%. CME Group's payout ratio is 52.33%.

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.