CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) have been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the eighteen brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have assigned a hold recommendation and nine have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $299.5294.

CME has been the subject of several analyst reports. Argus cut their target price on CME Group from $308.00 to $295.00 in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of CME Group in a report on Monday, December 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of CME Group from $264.00 to $266.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of CME Group from $312.00 to $316.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on shares of CME Group from $295.00 to $302.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th.

CME Group News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Record U.S. Treasury activity — Open interest in CME’s U.S. Treasury futures and options hit a new record of 36.33 million contracts (Feb. 19), with additional OI records in the 2-, 5-, 10- and 30?year products. Higher OI implies stronger fee and clearing revenue potential for CME. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst/ratings momentum — CME earned an RS (relative strength) rating upgrade and firms including Erste Group have lifted earnings estimates, supporting the stock’s re-rating and investor interest. These upgrades reinforce recent positive sentiment after CME’s modest beat on Q4 revenue/earnings. Read More. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Dividend raise and institutional demand — Recent disclosures show CME raised its quarterly dividend (to $1.30) and has heavy institutional ownership and sizable buys from large funds, which supports total-return appeal and may underpin valuation. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Crypto flows and derivatives positioning — Coverage notes that Bitcoin futures positioning on CME has shifted to net long and mining resilience might spur futures activity; this could boost crypto-related volumes but is uncertain and dependent on broader crypto price action. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Contextual earnings coverage — Recent Q4 commentary and comparisons with peers highlight solid margins and revenue growth, but some analysts still see valuation limits absent sustained volume growth; useful context for longer-term expectations. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Director insider sale — Director Bryan Durkin sold 4,200 shares (~$1.3M) on Feb. 23, trimming his holding by ~8.9%. Insider sales can raise short?term concerns, though the sale size is small relative to overall institutional ownership. Read More.

CME Group Trading Up 1.6%

CME Group stock opened at $319.03 on Wednesday. CME Group has a 12 month low of $247.08 and a 12 month high of $319.24. The stock has a market cap of $115.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.67 and a beta of 0.27. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $284.94 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $275.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.77 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.75 by $0.02. CME Group had a net margin of 62.45% and a return on equity of 14.65%. The firm had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.64 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.52 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that CME Group will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This is a boost from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 10th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.80%.

Insider Activity

In other CME Group news, Director Dennis Suskind sold 748 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $224,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 2,699 shares in the company, valued at approximately $809,700. The trade was a 21.70% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 4,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.65, for a total value of $1,300,530.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 43,007 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,317,117.55. This represents a 8.90% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 30,248 shares of company stock worth $8,355,450. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CME Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 11.5% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 10,027 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,660,000 after purchasing an additional 1,037 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in CME Group by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 32,575 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,899,000 after buying an additional 655 shares during the last quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 5.8% in the 2nd quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,618 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $446,000 after buying an additional 89 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of CME Group by 3.3% during the second quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,364 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $652,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Evermay Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of CME Group by 14.3% during the second quarter. Evermay Wealth Management LLC now owns 400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $110,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s 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.