CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) Price Target Lowered to $340.00 at Rothschild & Co Redburn

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) had its target price reduced by Rothschild & Co Redburn from $347.00 to $340.00 in a research note released on Monday morning,MarketScreener reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on CME. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on CME Group from $356.00 to $349.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Weiss Ratings upgraded CME Group from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of CME Group from $295.00 to $302.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Erste Group Bank upgraded CME Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Raymond James Financial lifted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $308.71.

CME Group Stock Up 1.8%

Shares of CME stock opened at $300.59 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $107.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.93, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.26. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. CME Group has a 12-month low of $251.90 and a 12-month high of $329.16. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $306.56 and a 200-day moving average of $284.92.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.75 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.64 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 14.65% and a net margin of 62.45%.The company’s revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.52 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that CME Group will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. This is a boost from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 10th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is 46.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Dennis Suskind sold 748 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $224,400.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 2,699 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $809,700. This represents a 21.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus sold 3,291 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $333.37, for a total value of $1,097,120.67. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel owned 7,192 shares in the company, valued at $2,397,597.04. The trade was a 31.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 8,539 shares of company stock valued at $2,713,821 over the last 90 days. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CME Group

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of CME. Purpose Unlimited Inc. bought a new position in CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $46,000. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 16.5% during the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 156,976 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $42,867,000 after acquiring an additional 22,286 shares in the last quarter. Osbon Capital Management LLC bought a new position in CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $46,000. World Investment Advisors increased its stake in CME Group by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 38,985 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,646,000 after acquiring an additional 1,324 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Winthrop Partners WNY LLC acquired a new position in CME Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,280,000. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CME Group Company Profile

CME Group Inc is a global markets company that operates some of the world’s largest and most liquid derivatives exchanges, including the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) and COMEX. The firm offers futures and options contracts across a broad range of asset classes — including interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, energy, agricultural commodities and metals — and serves a diverse client base of institutional investors, commercial hedgers, brokers and retail participants.

The company’s core services include electronic trading on the CME Globex platform, central clearing through CME Clearing, and distribution of market data, indexes and analytics.