CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Receives $289.75 Average Price Target from Analysts

Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the eighteen analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have issued a hold recommendation and nine have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $289.75.

CME has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $292.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a report on Thursday, September 3rd. Bank of America upped their price objective on CME Group from $226.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Erste Group Bank cut CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $320.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on CME Group from $267.00 to $245.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 30th.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME opened at $275.54 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $263.56 and a 200-day moving average of $277.42. CME Group has a one year low of $218.31 and a one year high of $329.16. The company has a market cap of $99.08 billion, a PE ratio of 23.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.99 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.91 by $0.08. CME Group had a net margin of 63.30% and a return on equity of 15.60%. The company had revenue of $1.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.68 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.96 EPS. CME Group’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that CME Group will post 12.27 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 9th will be issued a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 9th. CME Group’s payout ratio is currently 44.11%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director William R. Shepard purchased 325 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 25th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $230.57 per share, for a total transaction of $74,935.25. Following the purchase, the director owned 260,442 shares in the company, valued at approximately $60,050,111.94. This represents a 0.12% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.44, for a total transaction of $4,116,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 40,630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,150,497.20. This represents a 26.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CME Group

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its position in CME Group by 21,954.4% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 131,243,023 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,982,397,000 after buying an additional 130,647,934 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of CME Group in the second quarter valued at about $6,749,965,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in CME Group during the fourth quarter worth about $1,523,241,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in CME Group during the second quarter worth about $867,313,000. Finally, Alphabet Inc. acquired a new stake in CME Group in the 2nd quarter worth about $769,376,000. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

About CME Group

CME Group Inc operates global derivatives marketplaces that provide trading, clearing and settlement services for a broad range of financial and commodity products. Its exchange platforms enable participants to manage risk, discover prices and gain exposure to asset classes including interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, energy, metals, agricultural commodities and digital assets.

The company’s principal marketplaces include CME, CBOT, NYMEX and COMEX. Products are offered through futures and options contracts, with electronic trading available through CME Globex as well as exchange-based and privately negotiated transactions.