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

Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) have received an average recommendation of “Reduce” from the eleven research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have given a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $209.73.

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on CME shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on CME Group from $187.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Bank of America lowered shares of CME Group from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $212.00 to $177.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of CME Group from $193.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $212.00 to $213.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $208.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other CME Group news, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 7,593 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 55,607 shares in the company, valued at $11,932,706.13. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related 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 directly owns 13,261 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,877,504.39. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 7,593 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 55,607 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,932,706.13. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CME. Aveo Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of CME Group during the fourth quarter worth $226,000. 9258 Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,148 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $663,000 after buying an additional 113 shares during the period. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter worth about $547,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in CME Group by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 410,186 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $86,385,000 after acquiring an additional 1,751 shares during the period. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC grew its holdings in CME Group by 19.6% during the fourth quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 11,242 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,368,000 after acquiring an additional 1,845 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CME Group Trading Down 0.2 %

NASDAQ CME opened at $218.18 on Wednesday. CME Group has a 12 month low of $190.70 and a 12 month high of $223.80. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $206.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $207.48. The stock has a market cap of $78.56 billion, a PE ratio of 24.82, a PEG ratio of 8.85 and a beta of 0.55. 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 issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.56 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.53 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.53 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 56.98% and a return on equity of 12.82%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.30 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that CME Group will post 9.94 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be given a $1.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 9th. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.11%. CME Group’s payout ratio is 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.