CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) Price Target Raised to $209.00

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) had its price target raised by Barclays from $208.00 to $209.00 in a report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an equal weight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on CME Group from $235.00 to $225.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a market perform rating and issued a $226.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of CME Group from a neutral rating to an underweight rating and dropped their price target for the company from $206.00 to $187.00 in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a hold rating and set a $210.00 price objective (down previously from $235.00) on shares of CME Group in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on shares of CME Group from $209.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $212.64.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME Group stock opened at $200.54 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $199.87 and a 200-day simple moving average of $207.00. The company has a market cap of $72.21 billion, a PE ratio of 22.81, a P/E/G ratio of 6.61 and a beta of 0.52. CME Group has a one year low of $190.70 and a one year high of $223.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.02.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.56 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.53 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.53 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 56.98% and a return on equity of 12.82%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.30 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that CME Group will post 9.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th were issued a $1.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 7th. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.29%. CME Group’s payout ratio is 52.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other CME Group news, Director Charles P. Carey sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.44, for a total transaction of $586,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 7,163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,399,936.72. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Charles P. Carey sold 3,000 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.44, for a total value of $586,320.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,163 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,399,936.72. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Terry L. Savage sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.65, for a total transaction of $526,625.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 17,441 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,673,946.65. 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 currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CME Group

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CME. Gold Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Northwest Financial Advisors acquired a new position in CME Group during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC purchased a new position in CME Group in the first quarter valued at about $28,000. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 during the period. Finally, McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 66.1% during the 2nd quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 196 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.