CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) Cut to “Sell” at 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 report released on Sunday.

CME has been the topic of several other research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on CME Group from $267.00 to $245.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on CME Group from $356.00 to $349.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of CME Group from $266.00 to $271.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $320.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Finally, Erste Group Bank cut shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, CME Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $293.59.

CME Group Price Performance

CME traded up $0.56 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $240.27. 1,979,543 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,891,472. The firm has a market capitalization of $87.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.50, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 has a one year low of $218.31 and a one year high of $329.16. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $262.66 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $283.19.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.11 by $0.25. CME Group had a return on equity of 15.42% and a net margin of 63.19%.The company had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.77 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.80 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that CME Group will post 12.24 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other CME Group news, Director William R. Shepard acquired 325 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 25th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $230.57 per share, for a total transaction of $74,935.25. Following the transaction, the director owned 260,442 shares in the company, valued at $60,050,111.94. This trade represents a 0.12% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 5,753 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.63, for a total value of $1,752,536.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 27,702 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,438,860.26. This represents a 17.20% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CME Group

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CME. Lederer & Associates Investment Counsel CA grew its holdings in CME Group by 13.1% during the 2nd quarter. Lederer & Associates Investment Counsel CA now owns 5,424 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,198,000 after acquiring an additional 627 shares during the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 0.7% in the second quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 129,709 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,644,000 after acquiring an additional 915 shares during the last quarter. Perkins Coie Trust Co lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 9.0% during the second quarter. Perkins Coie Trust Co now owns 2,613 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $577,000 after purchasing an additional 215 shares in the last quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 24.7% during the second quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 2,053 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $453,000 after purchasing an additional 406 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harrell Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of CME Group by 2.5% during the second quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC now owns 26,479 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,847,000 after purchasing an additional 653 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting CME Group

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.