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

Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eighteen brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have assigned a hold recommendation, eight have given a buy recommendation and two have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $305.2941.

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on CME shares. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on CME Group from $313.00 to $329.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Raymond James Financial lifted their target price on CME Group from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Wall Street Zen lowered CME Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Sunday, April 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on CME Group from $275.00 to $267.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Argus reissued a “hold” rating on shares of CME Group in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 5,753 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.63, for a total value of $1,752,536.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 27,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,438,860.26. The trade was a 17.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 35,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.51, for a total transaction of $10,447,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 55,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,606,111.30. This trade represents a 38.62% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 44,044 shares of company stock valued at $13,297,507 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CME Group

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank purchased a new position in CME Group in the fourth quarter worth $1,523,241,000. Sanders Capital LLC purchased a new position in CME Group in the third quarter worth $1,006,932,000. Strive Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in CME Group in the third quarter worth $636,487,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in CME Group by 746.4% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,049,649 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $559,720,000 after purchasing an additional 1,807,491 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in CME Group by 39.1% in 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 purchasing an additional 1,130,587 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:CME opened at $277.42 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $293.99 and its 200 day moving average is $289.62. The stock has a market cap of $100.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.23. CME Group has a 52-week low of $257.17 and a 52-week high of $329.16. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

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

CME Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 9th will be paid a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 9th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. CME Group’s payout ratio is 44.37%.

About CME Group

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.