CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) Cut to Neutral at Citigroup

Citigroup downgraded shares of CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research report report published on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm currently has $250.00 price objective on the financial services provider’s stock, down from their previous price objective of $255.00.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on CME. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on CME Group from $237.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Barclays lifted their target price on CME Group from $231.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased 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. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $235.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $229.53.

CME Group Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:CME opened at $229.30 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $232.37 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $218.22. CME Group has a one year low of $190.70 and a one year high of $249.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $82.63 billion, a PE ratio of 24.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.41 and a beta of 0.56.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its 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 business had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.39% and a net margin of 57.34%. CME Group’s revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.25 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that CME Group will post 10.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be given a $5.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 27th. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous dividend of $2.50. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.37%.

CME Group declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, December 5th that permits the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to buy up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In related news, Director Timothy S. Bitsberger sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.96, for a total value of $226,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 10,589 shares in the company, valued at $2,403,279.44. This represents a 8.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 400 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.92, for a total value of $89,168.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 25,067 shares in the company, valued at $5,587,935.64. The trade was a 1.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 7,274 shares of company stock worth $1,648,071 in the last quarter. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CME Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of CME Group by 58.4% during the 3rd quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 613,828 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $135,441,000 after buying an additional 226,306 shares during the period. Magnetar Financial LLC boosted its stake in CME Group by 149.4% during the second quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC now owns 23,759 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,671,000 after acquiring an additional 14,234 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in CME Group by 18.3% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,826,501 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $403,017,000 after purchasing an additional 283,171 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can increased its stake in CME Group by 41.8% in the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,028,090 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $224,432,000 after purchasing an additional 303,169 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 1.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,284,745 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,823,964,000 after purchasing an additional 142,692 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

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.