CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) Stock Rating Lowered by Citigroup

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Citigroup from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a note issued to investors on Monday,Finviz reports. They currently have a $250.00 price target on the financial services provider’s stock, down from their prior price target of $255.00. Citigroup’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 7.53% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on CME. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $235.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays increased their target price on CME Group from $231.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on CME Group from $195.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on CME Group from $237.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on shares of CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $229.00.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME opened at $232.50 on Monday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $232.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $217.72. CME Group has a one year low of $190.70 and a one year high of $249.02. The company has a market capitalization of $83.78 billion, a PE ratio of 24.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.41 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.65 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 57.34% and a return on equity of 13.39%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.25 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that CME Group will post 10.22 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, December 5th that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.92, for a total transaction of $89,168.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 25,067 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,587,935.64. The trade was a 1.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Sunil Cutinho sold 4,500 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.64, for a total transaction of $1,019,880.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 27,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,131,291.92. This trade represents a 14.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 7,274 shares of company stock valued at $1,648,071 in the last three months. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CME Group

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of CME Group in the second quarter worth approximately $313,000. Private Advisor Group LLC grew its stake in CME Group by 13.1% during the second quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 5,193 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,021,000 after purchasing an additional 601 shares during the period. Asset Dedication LLC lifted its stake in CME Group by 515.2% in the second quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 203 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 170 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 1,664.6% in the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 11,276 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,214,000 after acquiring an additional 10,637 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Certuity LLC bought a new position in CME Group during the second quarter worth $206,000. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About CME Group

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.