CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) Coverage Initiated at Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada initiated coverage on shares of CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) in a research note published on Friday morning, MarketBeat reports. The firm issued a sector perform rating and a $235.00 price objective on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Barclays boosted their target price on CME Group from $208.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective 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. Piper Sandler restated an overweight rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on CME Group from $187.00 to $191.00 and gave the company an underweight rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, TD Cowen initiated coverage on CME Group in a research note on Thursday. They set a hold rating and a $221.00 price objective on the stock. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $212.54.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME stock opened at $218.30 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $78.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.74 and a beta of 0.55. CME Group has a one year low of $190.70 and a one year high of $223.80. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $209.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $207.41.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. CME Group had a return on equity of 12.82% and a net margin of 56.98%. The business had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.53 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.30 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that CME Group will post 9.94 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 9th were given a dividend of $1.15 per share. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 9th. CME Group’s payout ratio is currently 52.33%.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In other news, CFO Lynne Fitzpatrick sold 754 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Sunday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.99, for a total transaction 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. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other CME Group news, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 7,593 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.59, for a total transaction of $1,629,381.87. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 55,607 shares in the company, valued at $11,932,706.13. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Lynne Fitzpatrick sold 754 shares of the stock in a transaction on Sunday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.99, for a total transaction of $163,610.46. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 13,261 shares in the company, valued at $2,877,504.39. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CME Group

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in CME Group by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 33,451,194 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,044,821,000 after buying an additional 215,044 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 24.1% in 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 acquiring an additional 3,069,806 shares during the period. Capital World Investors lifted its position in CME Group by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 14,589,867 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,072,654,000 after purchasing an additional 1,172,575 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in CME Group by 11.3% during 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 purchasing an additional 537,758 shares during the period. Finally, FIL Ltd grew 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 worth $899,120,000 after purchasing an additional 29,398 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

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.