CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) has been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the fifteen ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have given a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $226.20.

CME has been the subject of several recent research reports. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $245.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $235.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a report on Thursday, October 24th. TD Cowen started coverage on CME Group in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. They set a “hold” rating and a $221.00 price target for the company. Bank of America upped their price objective on CME Group from $177.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on CME Group from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th.

CME Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CME opened at $236.82 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $230.38 and its 200-day moving average price is $214.65. The company has a market cap of $85.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.90, a P/E/G ratio of 5.41 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. CME Group has a twelve month low of $190.70 and a twelve month high of $249.02.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.65 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.39% and a net margin of 57.34%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.25 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that CME Group will post 10.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, December 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th will be issued a $5.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 27th. This is a boost from CME Group’s previous dividend of $2.50. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.37%.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In related news, insider Timothy Francis Mccourt sold 1,374 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.12, for a total transaction of $312,062.88. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,275 shares in the company, valued at $1,652,298. This trade represents a 15.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.92, for a total transaction of $89,168.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 25,067 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,587,935.64. This represents a 1.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 7,274 shares of company stock worth $1,648,071. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Truvestments Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of CME Group during the third quarter valued at $26,000. Dunhill Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 188.4% during the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 124 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd acquired a new position in shares of CME Group during the 2nd quarter worth $36,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 66.1% during the 2nd quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 196 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Asset Dedication LLC lifted its stake in shares of CME Group by 515.2% in the second quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 203 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

About CME Group

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.