CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Receives $215.70 Average PT from Brokerages

CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the ten analysts that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $215.70.

Several research firms have recently weighed in on CME. Argus boosted their target price on shares of CME Group from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of CME Group from $225.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of CME Group from $222.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $210.00 target price (down previously from $235.00) on shares of CME Group in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $229.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd.

CME Group Stock Performance

CME Group stock opened at $209.65 on Friday. CME Group has a 12-month low of $175.73 and a 12-month high of $223.80. The company has a market capitalization of $75.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $214.26 and its 200 day moving average price is $211.61.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The financial services provider reported $2.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.43 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 57.83% and a return on equity of 12.32%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 19.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.92 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that CME Group will post 9.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a $1.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.10. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.19%. CME Group’s payout ratio is 51.86%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in CME Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. MayTech Global Investments LLC acquired a new position in CME Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Gold Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in CME Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Power Corp of Canada acquired a new position in CME Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. Finally, Northwest Financial Advisors acquired a new position in CME Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.