CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Given Consensus Rating of "Hold" by Brokerages

CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average recommendation of "Hold" from the fifteen ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have assigned a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $222.73.

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on CME shares. Barclays lifted their price target on CME Group from $219.00 to $231.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Bank of America lifted their price target on CME Group from $177.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. TD Cowen started coverage on CME Group in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $221.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on CME Group from $187.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on CME Group from $193.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other CME Group news, Director Timothy S. Bitsberger sold 1,000 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was 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 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, insider Timothy Francis Mccourt sold 1,374 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.12, for a total value of $312,062.88. Following the sale, the insider now owns 7,275 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,652,298. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Timothy S. Bitsberger sold 1,000 shares of the business's 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 10,589 shares in the company, valued at $2,403,279.44. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 15,221 shares of company stock worth $3,351,895 over the last quarter. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CME Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in CME Group by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 7,810 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,723,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. CVA Family Office LLC increased its holdings in CME Group by 11.8% during the 3rd quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 436 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $96,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the period. Lester Murray Antman dba SimplyRich increased its holdings in CME Group by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Lester Murray Antman dba SimplyRich now owns 7,667 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,507,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Essex LLC increased its holdings in CME Group by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. Essex LLC now owns 1,649 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $355,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the period. Finally, Quent Capital LLC increased its holdings in CME Group by 10.2% during the 3rd quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 593 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $131,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company's stock.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of CME Group stock traded down $1.90 on Thursday, reaching $225.36. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,657,354 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,920,359. The company has a market capitalization of $81.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.85, a PEG ratio of 7.76 and a beta of 0.55. CME Group has a 52-week low of $190.70 and a 52-week high of $230.36. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $220.05 and a 200-day moving average price of $209.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.65 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 12.82% and a net margin of 56.98%. The business's revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.25 earnings per share. Analysts expect that CME Group will post 10.04 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 9th were given a $1.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 9th. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.04%. CME Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 52.33%.

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.