CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) Upgraded at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) from an underweight rating to an overweight rating in a research note released on Thursday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has $367.00 price objective on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on CME Group from $301.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 14th. UBS Group raised their price objective on CME Group from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 5th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $320.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Bank of America upped their target price on CME Group from $226.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded CME Group from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $313.29.

CME Group Trading Down 0.1%

NASDAQ:CME opened at $305.71 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $109.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.08, a PEG ratio of 3.92 and a beta of 0.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. CME Group has a 12 month low of $218.31 and a 12 month high of $329.16. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $277.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $270.74.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The financial services provider reported $3.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.99 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 16.23% and a net margin of 63.33%. The firm’s revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.68 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that CME Group will post 12.35 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 9th were given a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 9th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. CME Group’s payout ratio is currently 42.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other CME Group news, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 15,000 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.44, for a total transaction of $4,116,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 40,630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,150,497.20. This trade represents a 26.96% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 400 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $302.50, for a total value of $121,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 25,244 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,636,310. The trade was a 1.56% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 15,900 shares of company stock valued at $4,377,655 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of CME Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Townsend & Associates Inc grew its holdings in CME Group by 1.6% during the third quarter. Townsend & Associates Inc now owns 67,012 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $17,556,000 after acquiring an additional 1,052 shares during the period. Code Waechter LLC raised its position in CME Group by 3.2% during the third quarter. Code Waechter LLC now owns 2,111 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $553,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. McGuire Investment Group LLC lifted its holdings in CME Group by 1.4% in the third quarter. McGuire Investment Group LLC now owns 42,808 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,215,000 after acquiring an additional 611 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI lifted its holdings in CME Group by 59.2% in the third quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 6,143 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,609,000 after acquiring an additional 2,285 shares during the period. Finally, Simplicity Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in CME Group by 69.0% in the third quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 3,036 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $795,000 after acquiring an additional 1,240 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key CME Group News

Here are the key news stories impacting CME Group this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Record quarterly results: CME reported third-quarter revenue of approximately $1.74 billion, up 10.6% year over year and above the $1.71 billion consensus estimate. EPS of $3.02 also exceeded expectations of $2.99, while average daily volume reached a record 29.4 million contracts. CME third-quarter revenue article
• Positive Sentiment: Crypto derivatives momentum: CME recorded approximately $469.5 billion in crypto derivatives volume during the third quarter, highlighting growing demand for regulated digital-asset products. The company has not separately disclosed crypto revenue, so the direct earnings contribution remains unclear. CME crypto derivatives volume article
• Positive Sentiment: More bullish analyst coverage: JPMorgan upgraded CME from “underweight” to “overweight” and set a $367 price target, citing improving volume and earnings prospects. Wells Fargo also raised its target to $333. JPMorgan CME rating
• Positive Sentiment: Expansion opportunities: CME plans to launch CME Securities Clearing on December 7, potentially broadening its clearing business. Management also highlighted strong participation and international volume growth. CME Securities Clearing article
• Neutral Sentiment: Valuation remains debated: UBS lifted its price target from $270 to $310 but retained a “neutral” rating, indicating that much of the improved outlook may already be reflected in the stock. UBS CME rating
• Negative Sentiment: Insider sale: Director Martin Gepsman sold 400 shares for approximately $121,000. The transaction reduced his holdings by 1.56%, but he still owns 25,244 shares, limiting the sale’s significance. CME director stock sale

CME Group Company Profile

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.