CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) Sets New 52-Week Low – Should You Sell?

CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)’s share price reached a new 52-week low on Monday . The company traded as low as $219.55 and last traded at $219.37, with a volume of 802152 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $221.00.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of CME Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of CME Group from $275.00 to $267.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on CME Group from $266.00 to $271.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of CME Group from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Thursday. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $302.24.

CME Group Trading Down 0.6%

The stock has a market cap of $79.63 billion, a PE ratio of 18.77, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The business has a 50-day moving average of $273.13 and a 200 day moving average of $285.85.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.11 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $1.88 billion for 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%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.80 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 12.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 9th were issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 9th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. CME Group’s payout ratio is 44.37%.

Insider Activity

In other CME Group news, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 5,753 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.63, for a total transaction of $1,752,536.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 27,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,438,860.26. The trade was a 17.20% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 35,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 55,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,606,111.30. This trade represents a 38.62% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 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 bought and sold shares of CME. Asset Dedication LLC increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 64.9% during the 4th quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 94 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. Whipplewood Advisors LLC grew its position in CME Group by 2,075.0% during the first quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in CME Group during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Elkhorn Partners Limited Partnership bought a new position in CME Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

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.