CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) Price Target Raised to $213.00

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) had its target price upped by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $212.00 to $213.00 in a report published on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a market perform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded CME Group from a neutral rating to an underweight rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $206.00 to $187.00 in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Barclays boosted their price objective on CME Group from $208.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Thursday. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on CME Group from $235.00 to $225.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on CME Group from $222.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on CME Group from $209.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $212.64.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME opened at $199.38 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.01. CME Group has a one year low of $190.70 and a one year high of $223.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $71.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.68, a PEG ratio of 6.57 and a beta of 0.52. The business has a fifty day moving average of $200.12 and a 200 day moving average of $206.93.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.53 by $0.03. CME Group had a return on equity of 12.82% and a net margin of 56.98%. The business had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.53 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.30 earnings per share. CME Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that CME Group will post 9.75 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 25th. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th were paid a $1.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 7th. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.31%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 52.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.91, for a total value of $8,436,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 67,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,226,934.05. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 7,140 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.35, for a total value of $1,501,899.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 29,256 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,153,999.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.91, for a total value of $8,436,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 67,455 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,226,934.05. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 54,290 shares of company stock valued at $11,393,700 over the last quarter. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of CME Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Gold Investment Management Ltd. bought a new stake in CME Group during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Northwest Financial Advisors bought a new stake in CME Group during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC bought a new stake in CME Group during the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC boosted its position in CME Group by 966.7% during the 4th quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 160 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 1st quarter valued at $41,000. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

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.