CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) Stock Rating Lowered by Citigroup

Citigroup cut shares of CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a report published on Monday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has $250.00 target price on the financial services provider’s stock, down from their prior target price of $255.00.

CME has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Oppenheimer increased their price target on CME Group from $245.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $231.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on shares of CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 11th. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of CME Group in a report on Thursday, September 26th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $221.00 price target on the stock. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on CME Group from $195.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $229.00.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME opened at $225.82 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $81.38 billion, a PE ratio of 23.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.41 and a beta of 0.56. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $232.33 and a 200-day moving average of $217.92. CME Group has a one year low of $190.70 and a one year high of $249.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

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

CME Group declared that its board has approved a share buyback 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 buy up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be issued a dividend of $5.80 per share. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous dividend of $2.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 27th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is 48.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Sunil Cutinho sold 4,500 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.64, for a total value of $1,019,880.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 27,053 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,131,291.92. This trade represents a 14.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Timothy S. Bitsberger sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.96, for a total value of $226,960.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 10,589 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,403,279.44. This represents a 8.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 7,274 shares of company stock valued at $1,648,071 over the last quarter. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CME Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CME. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new position in CME Group in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Dunhill Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 188.4% during the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 124 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd bought a new position in shares of CME Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $36,000. Asset Dedication LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 515.2% during the 2nd quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 203 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. grew its position in CME Group by 62.2% during the 3rd quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 193 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.