CME Group’s (CME) “Sell” Rating Reaffirmed at Rosenblatt Securities

Rosenblatt Securities reiterated their sell rating on shares of CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) in a research note released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $187.00 target price on the financial services provider’s stock, up from their previous target price of $185.00.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $225.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of CME Group from a neutral rating to a sell rating and set a $195.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a hold rating and issued a $210.00 price objective (down previously from $235.00) on shares of CME Group in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Argus upped their price target on CME Group from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a market perform rating and set a $229.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $217.80.

CME Group Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ CME opened at $210.94 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $75.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.00, a PEG ratio of 5.87 and a beta of 0.49. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $214.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $211.83. CME Group has a 52-week low of $175.73 and a 52-week high of $223.80.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.50 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $1.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.48 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 56.84% and a return on equity of 12.45%. CME Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.42 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that CME Group will post 9.72 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were given a $1.15 dividend. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.18%. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.33%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CME Group

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CME. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at $959,260,000. Capital Wealth Planning LLC acquired a new position in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at $253,563,000. Capital World Investors increased its position in shares of CME Group by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 14,589,867 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,072,654,000 after acquiring an additional 1,172,575 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in CME Group by 31.5% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,858,967 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $972,863,000 after purchasing an additional 1,163,103 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc purchased a new stake in CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at $113,772,000. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.