CME Group’s (CME) Buy Rating Reiterated at TD Cowen

TD Cowen reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) in a report published on Monday,Benzinga reports. TD Cowen currently has a $292.00 target price on the financial services provider’s stock.

CME has been the topic of several other research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $286.00 to $270.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on CME Group from $310.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 6th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of CME Group from $226.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised shares of CME Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $316.00 to $323.00 in a report on Thursday, June 11th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $320.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $289.07.

CME Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ CME opened at $261.98 on Monday. 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 has a 1 year low of $218.31 and a 1 year high of $329.16. The company has a market capitalization of $94.20 billion, a PE ratio of 22.22, a P/E/G ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.24. The company has a fifty day moving average of $270.66 and a two-hundred day moving average of $272.96.

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

CME Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 9th were given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 9th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.11%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director William Shepard bought 293 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 25th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $268.76 per share, for a total transaction of $78,746.68. Following the purchase, the director owned 263,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $70,761,551.64. This trade represents a 0.11% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Terrence Duffy sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.44, for a total value 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. The trade was a 26.96% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CME Group

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group in the second quarter valued at about $6,749,965,000. State Street Corp raised its holdings in CME Group by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,144,525 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,408,747,000 after purchasing an additional 56,725 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in CME Group by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,924,475 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,344,776,000 after purchasing an additional 134,242 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position 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 valued at $1,187,290,000 after purchasing an additional 1,130,587 shares during the period. Finally, Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in CME Group by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,197,668 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,146,593,000 after purchasing an additional 87,411 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

About CME Group

CME Group Inc operates global derivatives marketplaces that enable customers to manage risk and trade futures and options contracts. Its exchanges offer products linked to interest rates, equity indexes, foreign currencies, agricultural commodities, energy, metals and other asset classes.

The company also provides central counterparty clearing, settlement and related risk-management services for transactions conducted on its markets. In addition, CME Group offers market data, benchmark products and technology services that support trading, analysis and connectivity for financial institutions, businesses, professional traders and other market participants.

CME Group’s history includes the Chicago Board of Trade, founded in 1848, and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, established in 1898.