CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Receives $229.27 Consensus PT from Brokerages

Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) have earned a consensus recommendation of "Reduce" from the fifteen ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $229.27.

CME has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on shares of CME Group from $260.00 to $256.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Barclays raised their price target on shares of CME Group from $231.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 11th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on CME Group from $195.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In related news, Director Timothy S. Bitsberger sold 1,000 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.96, for a total value of $226,960.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 10,589 shares in the company, valued at $2,403,279.44. The trade was a 8.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 400 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.92, for a total transaction of $89,168.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 25,067 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,587,935.64. This trade represents a 1.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 7,274 shares of company stock worth $1,648,071. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CME Group

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,284,745 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,823,964,000 after acquiring an additional 142,692 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 11.3% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,283,196 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,038,676,000 after purchasing an additional 537,758 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 6.6% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,835,075 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $557,371,000 after purchasing an additional 176,004 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 17.8% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,514,040 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $554,707,000 after purchasing an additional 380,071 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of CME Group by 70.4% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,427,107 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $544,157,000 after buying an additional 1,003,119 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company's stock.

CME Group Stock Performance

CME traded up $2.28 on Tuesday, hitting $231.73. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,427,803 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,010,372. CME Group has a 12 month low of $190.70 and a 12 month high of $249.02. The firm has a market cap of $83.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.41 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $232.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $219.11.

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

CME Group declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, December 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

CME Group Increases Dividend

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

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.