CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the eighteen ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $302.2353.

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of CME Group from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Thursday. Raymond James Financial lifted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 6th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of CME Group from $323.00 to $273.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised shares of CME Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $316.00 to $323.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of CME Group in a research note on Monday, June 15th.

CME Group Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of CME opened at $218.58 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The company’s fifty day moving average is $271.58 and its 200 day moving average is $285.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $79.20 billion, a PE ratio of 18.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.21. CME Group has a fifty-two week low of $218.31 and a fifty-two week high of $329.16.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.36 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.11 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $1.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.77 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 63.19% and a return on equity of 15.42%. CME Group’s quarterly revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.80 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that CME Group will post 12.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 9th were paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 9th. CME Group’s payout ratio is presently 44.37%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 5,753 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.63, for a total transaction of $1,752,536.39. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 27,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,438,860.26. The trade was a 17.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director William R. Shepard bought 325 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 25th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $230.57 per share, with a total value of $74,935.25. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 260,442 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $60,050,111.94. This trade represents a 0.12% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of CME Group

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Asset Dedication LLC boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 64.9% during the fourth quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 94 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. Whipplewood Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 2,075.0% during the first quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the period. FNY Investment Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Elkhorn Partners Limited Partnership purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. 87.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CME Group Company Profile

CME Group Inc is a global markets company that operates some of the world’s largest and most liquid derivatives exchanges, including the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) and COMEX. The firm offers futures and options contracts across a broad range of asset classes — including interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, energy, agricultural commodities and metals — and serves a diverse client base of institutional investors, commercial hedgers, brokers and retail participants.

The company’s core services include electronic trading on the CME Globex platform, central clearing through CME Clearing, and distribution of market data, indexes and analytics.