CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) Receives “Sector Perform” Rating from Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada restated their sector perform rating on shares of CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) in a research note published on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $235.00 price objective on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other analysts also recently commented on CME. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of CME Group from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Bank of America increased their price target on CME Group from $177.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 11th. Barclays raised their target price on CME Group from $231.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on CME Group from $195.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, CME Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $229.53.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME stock opened at $229.30 on Monday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $232.37 and a 200 day moving average of $218.22. CME Group has a 1 year low of $190.70 and a 1 year high of $249.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $82.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.41 and a beta of 0.56.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.65 by $0.03. The firm 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.25 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that CME Group will post 10.22 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan 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 repurchase up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be given a $5.80 dividend. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous dividend of $2.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 27th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other CME Group news, insider Sunil Cutinho sold 4,500 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.64, for a total transaction of $1,019,880.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 27,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,131,291.92. The trade was a 14.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Timothy Francis Mccourt sold 1,374 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 7,274 shares of company stock worth $1,648,071. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CME Group

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in CME. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. acquired a new position in CME Group during the second quarter worth $313,000. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 13.1% during the 2nd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 5,193 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,021,000 after acquiring an additional 601 shares during the period. Asset Dedication LLC boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 515.2% during the 2nd quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 203 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 1,664.6% in the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 11,276 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,214,000 after purchasing an additional 10,637 shares during the period. Finally, Certuity LLC acquired a new stake in CME Group during the second quarter worth about $206,000. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.