CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Analyst Says

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) had its price objective lifted by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $237.00 to $260.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a market perform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Barclays boosted their price objective on CME Group from $231.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Redburn Atlantic lowered shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $244.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of CME Group from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of CME Group from $195.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $229.33.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of CME Group stock opened at $238.53 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $230.71 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $214.98. CME Group has a fifty-two week low of $190.70 and a fifty-two week high of $249.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The company has a market cap of $85.96 billion, a PE ratio of 25.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.41 and a beta of 0.56.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.65 by $0.03. CME Group had a net margin of 57.34% and a return on equity of 13.39%. The business had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.59 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.25 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that CME Group will post 10.22 EPS for the current year.

CME Group declared that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, December 5th that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be issued a dividend of $5.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 27th. This is a boost from CME Group’s previous dividend of $2.50. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.37%.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In other CME Group news, Director Timothy S. Bitsberger sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.96, for a total transaction of $226,960.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,589 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,403,279.44. This represents a 8.63 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 400 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.92, for a total transaction of $89,168.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 25,067 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,587,935.64. This represents a 1.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 7,274 shares of company stock valued at $1,648,071 over the last ninety days. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CME Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. acquired a new position in CME Group in the second quarter valued at about $313,000. &PARTNERS acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $393,000. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in CME Group by 36.8% during the 2nd quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,540 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $303,000 after acquiring an additional 414 shares during the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC grew its holdings in CME Group by 1,540.6% during the second quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 525 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $103,000 after purchasing an additional 493 shares during the period. Finally, Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp bought a new stake in CME Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $326,000. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.