CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) Upgraded to Strong-Buy at Erste Group Bank

Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) to a strong-buy rating in a report issued on Monday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $256.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup downgraded shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the company from $255.00 to $250.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $235.00 to $269.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, CME Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $238.93.

CME Group Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of CME stock opened at $266.49 on Monday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $244.35 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $233.28. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The stock has a market cap of $96.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.56, a PEG ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.53. CME Group has a 52 week low of $190.70 and a 52 week high of $266.93.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.46 by $0.06. CME Group had a net margin of 57.52% and a return on equity of 13.62%. Analysts predict that CME Group will post 10.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group announced that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, December 5th that authorizes the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $1.25 per share. This is a boost from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.88%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.71%.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total transaction of $2,888,378.64. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 21,885 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,453,085.45. The trade was a 34.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 3,984 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.47, for a total transaction of $997,872.48. Following the sale, the insider now owns 27,046 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,774,211.62. The trade was a 12.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 27,076 shares of company stock worth $6,871,496. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. CWC Advisors LLC. lifted its position in CME Group by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. CWC Advisors LLC. now owns 2,922 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $679,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in CME Group by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 64,452 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $14,968,000 after purchasing an additional 2,686 shares during the period. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC lifted its position in CME Group by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 11,147 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,589,000 after purchasing an additional 640 shares during the period. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ acquired a new position in CME Group during the fourth quarter valued at $27,772,000. Finally, Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH lifted its position in CME Group by 50.4% during the fourth quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH now owns 17,335 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,026,000 after purchasing an additional 5,810 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is currently 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.