CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) Earns Sell Rating from Rosenblatt Securities

Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed their sell rating on shares of CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) in a research note released on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. Rosenblatt Securities currently has a $187.00 price objective on the financial services provider's stock, up from their prior price objective of $185.00.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $225.00 to $226.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of CME Group from $222.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of CME Group from a neutral rating to a sell rating and set a $195.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a hold rating and set a $210.00 target price (down from $235.00) on shares of CME Group in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Argus upped their target price on shares of CME Group from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $217.80.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME Group stock traded down $0.05 on Thursday, hitting $212.54. 2,000,622 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,793,498. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. CME Group has a 1 year low of $175.73 and a 1 year high of $223.80. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $214.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $211.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $76.51 billion, a PE ratio of 24.05, a PEG ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 0.49.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.44 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $1.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.48 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 57.83% and a return on equity of 12.32%. CME Group's quarterly revenue was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.42 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that CME Group will post 9.58 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a dividend of $1.15 per share. This is an increase from CME Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.10. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. CME Group's payout ratio is presently 51.86%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CME. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in CME Group by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 3,625 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $782,000 after buying an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its position in shares of CME Group by 4.3% in the first quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 1,160 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $250,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. Lantz Financial LLC grew its position in shares of CME Group by 1.1% in the first quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 4,561 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $982,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of CME Group by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,995 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $631,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC grew its position in shares of CME Group by 1.7% in the third quarter. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC now owns 3,022 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $605,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.