CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) Cut to Strong Sell at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) from a sell rating to a strong sell rating in a research note released on Saturday.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $320.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of CME Group from $226.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Weiss Ratings cut shares of CME Group from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on CME Group from $356.00 to $349.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on CME Group from $342.00 to $322.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $291.81.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME stock opened at $266.17 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $250.38 and its 200 day moving average is $281.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $95.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.58, a PEG ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.23. CME Group has a 12 month low of $218.31 and a 12 month high of $329.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.99 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.91 by $0.08. CME Group had a return on equity of 15.60% and a net margin of 63.30%.The firm had revenue of $1.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.68 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.96 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that CME Group will post 12.27 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 9th were paid a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 9th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.11%.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other CME Group news, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 35,000 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $298.51, for a total transaction of $10,447,850.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 55,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,606,111.30. This trade represents a 38.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 5,753 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.63, for a total transaction of $1,752,536.39. Following the sale, the insider owned 27,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,438,860.26. The trade was a 17.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CME Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Whipplewood Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 2,075.0% during the first quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the period. Asset Dedication LLC increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 64.9% in the fourth quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 94 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the period. FNY Investment Advisers LLC bought a new stake in CME Group during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Elkhorn Partners Limited Partnership bought a new stake in CME Group during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in CME Group during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.