CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Stock Now Rated “Hold” by Sell-Side Brokerages

Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the eighteen research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have issued a hold recommendation and eight have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $290.94.

Several brokerages recently issued reports on CME. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of CME Group from $249.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of CME Group from $226.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $320.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Wall Street Zen raised CME Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on CME Group from $267.00 to $245.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th.

CME Group Trading Up 2.6%

NASDAQ CME opened at $270.03 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $97.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.90, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.24. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $271.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $271.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. CME Group has a one year low of $218.31 and a one year high of $329.16.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.91 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $1.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.68 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 15.60% and a net margin of 63.30%.The company’s revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.96 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that CME Group will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 9th were given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 9th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.11%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Terrence Duffy sold 15,000 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.44, for a total value of $4,116,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 40,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,150,497.20. This trade represents a 26.96% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director William Shepard purchased 293 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 25th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $268.76 per share, with a total value of $78,746.68. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 263,289 shares in the company, valued at $70,761,551.64. This represents a 0.11% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CME Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in CME Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $6,749,965,000. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,144,525 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,408,747,000 after purchasing an additional 56,725 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,924,475 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,344,776,000 after buying an additional 134,242 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,197,668 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,146,593,000 after buying an additional 87,411 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in CME Group by 39.1% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 4,019,944 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,187,290,000 after buying an additional 1,130,587 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

About CME Group

CME Group Inc operates global derivatives marketplaces that enable customers to manage risk and trade futures and options contracts. Its exchanges offer products linked to interest rates, equity indexes, foreign currencies, agricultural commodities, energy, metals and other asset classes.

The company also provides central counterparty clearing, settlement and related risk-management services for transactions conducted on its markets. In addition, CME Group offers market data, benchmark products and technology services that support trading, analysis and connectivity for financial institutions, businesses, professional traders and other market participants.

CME Group’s history includes the Chicago Board of Trade, founded in 1848, and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, established in 1898.