Wall Street Zen Upgrades CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) to Hold

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) was upgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $330.00 price target (up from $295.00) on shares of CME Group in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded CME Group from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $367.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $286.00 to $270.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Barclays lifted their target price on CME Group from $281.00 to $321.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on CME Group from $226.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $314.44.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of CME Group stock opened at $303.14 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $108.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.70 and a beta of 0.24. CME Group has a twelve month low of $218.31 and a twelve month high of $329.16. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $280.34 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $280.01. 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 (NASDAQ:CME) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The financial services provider reported $3.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.99 by $0.03. CME Group had a net margin of 63.33% and a return on equity of 16.23%. The firm had revenue of $1.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.68 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that CME Group will post 12.34 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Terrence Duffy sold 15,000 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.44, for a total transaction of $4,116,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 40,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,150,497.20. The trade was a 26.96% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Sunil Cutinho sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.70, for a total transaction of $1,493,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 20,037 shares in the company, valued at $5,985,051.90. This trade represents a 19.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 20,900 shares of company stock valued at $5,871,155 in the last ninety days. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Boston Trust Walden Corp increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 79.5% during the third quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 31,142 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,159,000 after buying an additional 13,791 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in CME Group by 52.8% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 605 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $159,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares during the period. Compass Financial Management LLC grew its position in shares of CME Group by 471.4% in the 3rd quarter. Compass Financial Management LLC now owns 120 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of CME Group by 9.2% in the third quarter. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. now owns 64,720 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $17,036,000 after acquiring an additional 5,427 shares during the period. Finally, AIA Group Ltd bought a new stake in shares of CME Group in the third quarter worth about $4,404,000. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About CME Group

CME Group Inc operates global derivatives marketplaces that provide trading, clearing and settlement services for futures and options contracts. Its products cover major asset classes, including interest rates, equity indexes, foreign currencies, agricultural commodities, energy and metals. The company also provides market data, benchmark information and related services used by financial institutions, corporations, producers, investors and other market participants.

CME Group’s exchange portfolio includes CME, the Chicago Board of Trade, the New York Mercantile Exchange and COMEX.