Royal Bank of Canada Reaffirms Sector Perform Rating for CME Group (NASDAQ:CME)

Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed their sector perform rating on shares of CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) in a report issued on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. Royal Bank of Canada currently has a $235.00 price objective on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on CME. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on CME Group from $187.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $177.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Redburn Atlantic downgraded CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $244.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on CME Group from $228.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on CME Group from $210.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $222.07.

CME Group Stock Down 0.6 %

CME traded down $1.49 during trading on Thursday, hitting $228.20. The company had a trading volume of 106,973 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,926,765. The company has a market cap of $82.17 billion, a PE ratio of 26.13, a P/E/G ratio of 7.76 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. CME Group has a 1-year low of $190.70 and a 1-year high of $230.36. The business has a 50-day moving average of $218.08 and a 200-day moving average of $208.66.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.65 by $0.03. CME Group had a return on equity of 12.82% and a net margin of 56.98%. The business had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.25 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that CME Group will post 10.04 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Investors 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 2.02%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.33%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Lynne Fitzpatrick sold 754 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Sunday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.99, for a total value of $163,610.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 13,261 shares in the company, valued at $2,877,504.39. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other CME Group news, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 7,593 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.59, for a total value of $1,629,381.87. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 55,607 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,932,706.13. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Lynne Fitzpatrick sold 754 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Sunday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.99, for a total transaction of $163,610.46. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 13,261 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,877,504.39. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of CME Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. CVA Family Office LLC increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 11.8% in the third quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 436 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $96,000 after buying an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 1,160 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $250,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Lester Murray Antman dba SimplyRich raised its position in shares of CME Group by 0.7% during the second 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 boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. Essex LLC now owns 1,649 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $355,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the period. Finally, Quent Capital LLC increased its stake in CME Group by 10.2% in 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 in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About CME Group

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.