CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) Downgraded to “Sell” Rating by Wall Street Zen

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) was downgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report issued on Sunday.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on CME. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on CME Group from $342.00 to $322.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $320.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of CME Group from $316.00 to $270.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Rothschild & Co Redburn upgraded shares of CME Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $316.00 to $323.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of CME Group from $356.00 to $349.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $293.59.

CME Group Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:CME traded up $0.56 on Friday, reaching $240.27. The company had a trading volume of 1,979,543 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,891,472. CME Group has a twelve month low of $218.31 and a twelve month high of $329.16. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $262.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $283.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $87.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.25. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.11 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $1.88 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.77 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 15.42% and a net margin of 63.19%.The firm’s revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.80 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that CME Group will post 12.24 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In related news, Director William R. Shepard purchased 325 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 25th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $230.57 per share, for a total transaction of $74,935.25. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 260,442 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $60,050,111.94. This trade represents a 0.12% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 35,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.51, for a total transaction of $10,447,850.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 55,630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,606,111.30. The trade was a 38.62% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CME Group

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 11.5% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 10,027 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,660,000 after purchasing an additional 1,037 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 103.1% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 3,692 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,018,000 after purchasing an additional 121,707 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its position in CME Group by 1,325.2% in the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 23,572 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,497,000 after purchasing an additional 21,918 shares during the period. Nebula Research & Development LLC bought a new position in CME Group in the second quarter worth $992,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in CME Group by 2.6% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 287,876 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $79,344,000 after purchasing an additional 7,397 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CME Group News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting CME Group this week:

• Positive Sentiment: CME announced new products aimed at expanding trading activity, including Treasury LINK for U.S. Treasury spread trading and a new agriculture index that offers a unified benchmark for the global farm economy. CME Group to launch Treasury LINK for enhanced US Treasury spread trading CME Group’s New Agriculture Index Delivers Unified Price Benchmark for the Global Farm Economy
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley kept an overweight rating but lowered its price target on CME to $324 from $353, while Barclays cut its target to $270 and moved to equal weight, signaling reduced near-term expectations but not a fundamentally bearish view. Morgan Stanley cuts CME price target Barclays cuts CME price target
• Negative Sentiment: The CFTC blocked CME’s plan to fast-track 24/7 crude oil futures trading, a setback that could limit a potentially important new revenue stream and raises regulatory risk around product innovation. CFTC to block CME’s plan for 24/7 crude oil futures trading CFTC Blocks for Now CME’s Plan to Offer 24/7 Oil Futures
• Negative Sentiment: Reports also pointed to weaker trading volumes and rising competition weighing on CME Group, which could pressure transaction-based revenue growth if activity remains soft. Competition And Weaker Trading Volumes Are Weighing On CME Group (CME) Stock

About CME Group

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.