CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Receives $226.20 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) have earned an average recommendation of "Hold" from the fifteen ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $229.33.

CME has been the topic of a number of research reports. Barclays upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $231.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Redburn Atlantic downgraded CME Group from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $244.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on shares of CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and set a $235.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of CME Group from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Timothy S. Bitsberger sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.96, for a total transaction of $226,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 10,589 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,403,279.44. This trade represents a 8.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Timothy Francis Mccourt sold 1,374 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.12, for a total transaction of $312,062.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 7,275 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,652,298. This trade represents a 15.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 7,274 shares of company stock worth $1,648,071 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of CME Group during the second quarter worth approximately $313,000. &PARTNERS acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $393,000. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in CME Group by 36.8% during the 2nd quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,540 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $303,000 after buying an additional 414 shares in the last quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of CME Group by 19.1% during the 2nd quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,635 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $321,000 after purchasing an additional 262 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Family Firm Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $92,000. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

CME Group Trading Up 0.7 %

CME traded up $1.71 during trading on Friday, reaching $238.53. The company had a trading volume of 3,172,049 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,976,343. CME Group has a 12-month low of $190.70 and a 12-month high of $249.02. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $230.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $214.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The company has a market cap of $85.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.08, a PEG ratio of 5.41 and a beta of 0.56.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.65 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.39% and a net margin of 57.34%. CME Group's revenue for the quarter was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.25 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that CME Group will post 10.22 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th will be given a dividend of $5.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 27th. This is an increase from CME Group's previous dividend of $2.50. CME Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.37%.

CME Group announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, December 5th that allows the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.