CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) Now Covered by Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada started coverage on shares of CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) in a report published on Friday morning, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage issued a sector perform rating and a $235.00 price objective on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler reiterated an overweight rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Barclays increased their price target on CME Group from $208.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of CME Group from $212.00 to $213.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on CME Group in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. They issued a hold rating and a $221.00 target price for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on CME Group from $187.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock an underweight rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, CME Group presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $212.54.

CME Group Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of CME Group stock opened at $220.65 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $210.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $207.42. CME Group has a fifty-two week low of $190.70 and a fifty-two week high of $223.80. The firm has a market cap of $79.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.10, a P/E/G ratio of 8.74 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.53 by $0.03. CME Group had a return on equity of 12.82% and a net margin of 56.98%. The business had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.53 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.30 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that CME Group will post 9.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 9th were paid a dividend of $1.15 per share. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 9th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.33%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 7,593 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.59, for a total transaction of $1,629,381.87. Following the sale, the director now owns 55,607 shares in the company, valued at $11,932,706.13. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other CME Group news, CFO Lynne Fitzpatrick sold 754 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Sunday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.99, for a total transaction of $163,610.46. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 13,261 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,877,504.39. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 7,593 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.59, for a total transaction of $1,629,381.87. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 55,607 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,932,706.13. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of CME Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CME. Aveo Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $226,000. 9258 Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of CME Group by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,148 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $663,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at $547,000. Advisory Services Network LLC boosted its holdings in CME Group by 19.1% in the fourth quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 2,771 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $584,000 after purchasing an additional 445 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc increased its position in CME Group by 69.7% during the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 320,160 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $67,426,000 after buying an additional 131,524 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.