CME Group’s (CME) “Sector Perform” Rating Reiterated at Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada restated their sector perform rating on shares of CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) in a research report released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. Royal Bank of Canada currently has a $269.00 price objective on the financial services provider’s stock.

CME has been the subject of several other research reports. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of CME Group from $257.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup lowered shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Bank of America upped their target price on CME Group from $200.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on CME Group from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, CME Group has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $241.53.

CME Group Price Performance

NASDAQ CME opened at $268.36 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $252.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $236.93. CME Group has a 52 week low of $190.70 and a 52 week high of $271.22. The stock has a market cap of $96.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.46 by $0.06. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.62% and a net margin of 57.52%. Analysts forecast that CME Group will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.86%. This is a boost from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. CME Group’s payout ratio is presently 51.71%.

CME Group announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, December 5th that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to buy up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In related news, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 3,984 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.47, for a total transaction of $997,872.48. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 27,046 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,774,211.62. This trade represents a 12.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total value of $2,888,378.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 21,885 shares in the company, valued at $5,453,085.45. This trade represents a 34.63 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 27,076 shares of company stock valued at $6,871,496 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CME Group

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 108.7% during the 4th quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 12,390 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,949,000 after purchasing an additional 6,453 shares during the last quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. bought a new stake in CME Group in the fourth quarter worth $6,144,000. Unified Investment Management acquired a new position in CME Group during the fourth quarter worth $503,000. Spire Wealth Management raised its holdings in CME Group by 37.4% during the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 1,320 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $307,000 after buying an additional 359 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 19.3% in the fourth quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc now owns 326,098 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $75,730,000 after buying an additional 52,862 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently 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.