CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) Lowered to “Neutral” Rating by Citigroup

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) was downgraded by equities researchers at Citigroup from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note issued on Monday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have a $250.00 price objective on the financial services provider’s stock, down from their prior price objective of $255.00. Citigroup’s target price indicates a potential upside of 10.13% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on CME. Bank of America increased their price target on CME Group from $177.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on CME Group from $237.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of CME Group from $245.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $235.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $229.53.

CME Group Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of CME stock opened at $227.01 on Monday. CME Group has a fifty-two week low of $190.70 and a fifty-two week high of $249.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $232.32 and its two-hundred day moving average is $218.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $81.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.87, a PEG ratio of 5.41 and a beta of 0.56.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.65 by $0.03. CME Group had a net margin of 57.34% and a return on equity of 13.39%. The firm had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.25 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that CME Group will post 10.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group announced that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, December 5th that allows the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In related news, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.92, for a total transaction of $89,168.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 25,067 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,587,935.64. The trade was a 1.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Timothy Francis Mccourt sold 1,374 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.12, for a total value of $312,062.88. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 7,275 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,652,298. This represents a 15.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 7,274 shares of company stock valued at $1,648,071 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CME Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CME. CWA Asset Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group during the fourth quarter worth about $203,000. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in CME Group by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 30,170 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,000,000 after buying an additional 1,557 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in CME Group by 36.2% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,626 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,307,000 after buying an additional 1,495 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 4.4% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 419,532 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $92,570,000 after acquiring an additional 17,508 shares during the period. Finally, Syntax Research Inc. purchased a new position in shares of CME Group during the third quarter worth approximately $2,540,000. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CME Group Company Profile

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.