CME Group’s (CME) “Sell” Rating Reaffirmed at Rosenblatt Securities

Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed their sell rating on shares of CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) in a research report released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $187.00 price objective on the financial services provider’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $185.00.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on CME Group from $222.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a hold rating and issued a $210.00 price target (down previously from $235.00) on shares of CME Group in a research note on Friday, April 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut CME Group from a neutral rating to a sell rating and set a $195.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a market perform rating and issued a $229.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Argus increased their price target on CME Group from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $217.80.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of CME stock opened at $210.94 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. CME Group has a twelve month low of $175.73 and a twelve month high of $223.80. The company has a market cap of $75.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.00, a P/E/G ratio of 5.87 and a beta of 0.49. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $214.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $211.83.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.44 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $1.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.48 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 12.45% and a net margin of 56.84%. CME Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.42 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that CME Group will post 9.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a $1.15 dividend. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.10. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 52.33%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of CME. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in CME Group during the third quarter worth $25,000. Gold Investment Management Ltd. bought a new stake in CME Group during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Northwest Financial Advisors bought a new stake in CME Group during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in CME Group by 966.7% during the fourth quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 160 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares during the period. Finally, Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA bought a new stake in CME Group during the third quarter worth $37,000. 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.