CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) Upgraded to Buy at Citigroup

Citigroup upgraded shares of CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Thursday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm currently has $300.00 price target on the financial services provider’s stock, up from their prior price target of $275.00.

CME has been the subject of a number of other reports. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on CME Group from $283.00 to $296.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on CME Group from $300.00 to $303.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on CME Group from $305.00 to $285.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 8th. Barclays set a $298.00 price target on shares of CME Group and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of CME Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Sunday, July 13th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $268.14.

CME Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ CME opened at $268.73 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $96.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.01, a PEG ratio of 4.79 and a beta of 0.43. CME Group has a twelve month low of $213.94 and a twelve month high of $290.79. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $270.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $270.80. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.91 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.68 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 14.60% and a net margin of 58.48%.CME Group’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.56 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that CME Group will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 9th were given a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 9th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is 48.40%.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other news, insider Timothy Francis Mccourt sold 379 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $259.83, for a total transaction of $98,475.57. Following the transaction, the insider owned 9,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,470,463.64. This represents a 3.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus sold 392 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.00, for a total transaction of $102,704.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 7,851 shares in the company, valued at $2,056,962. This trade represents a 4.76% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 13,043 shares of company stock valued at $3,527,956 in the last 90 days. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CME Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Jessup Wealth Management Inc boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Jessup Wealth Management Inc now owns 7,969 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,197,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its position in CME Group by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 5,269 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,453,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC lifted its position in CME Group by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 1,661 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $441,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC lifted its position in CME Group by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 1,422 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $392,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in CME Group by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,952 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $538,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

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.