CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Receives $213.77 Consensus Price Target from Analysts

CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the fourteen analysts that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have issued a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $217.71.

Several research firms recently weighed in on CME. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $187.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Redburn Atlantic cut CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $244.00 target price for the company. in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on CME Group from $195.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on CME Group from $212.00 to $213.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of CME Group from $225.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Lynne Fitzpatrick sold 754 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Sunday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.99, for a total value of $163,610.46. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 13,261 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,877,504.39. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other CME Group news, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 7,593 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.59, for a total value of $1,629,381.87. Following the sale, the director now owns 55,607 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,932,706.13. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Lynne Fitzpatrick sold 754 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Sunday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.99, for a total value of $163,610.46. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 13,261 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,877,504.39. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CME Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CME. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in CME Group by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 33,451,194 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,044,821,000 after purchasing an additional 215,044 shares during the period. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in CME Group by 24.1% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 15,809,175 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,403,557,000 after buying an additional 3,069,806 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in CME Group by 11.3% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,283,196 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,038,676,000 after buying an additional 537,758 shares during the period. FIL Ltd boosted its position in CME Group by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 4,269,327 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $899,120,000 after buying an additional 29,398 shares during the period. Finally, GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd increased its position in shares of CME Group by 1.1% during the first quarter. GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd now owns 4,009,068 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $863,112,000 after acquiring an additional 43,293 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME stock opened at $221.72 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $79.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.22, a P/E/G ratio of 7.76 and a beta of 0.55. CME Group has a 12-month low of $190.70 and a 12-month high of $226.78. The business’s 50 day moving average is $214.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $207.93. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.53 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.53 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 56.98% and a return on equity of 12.82%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.30 EPS. Analysts expect that CME Group will post 10.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Investors of record on Monday, September 9th were issued a $1.15 dividend. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 9th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.33%.

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.