The Goldman Sachs Group Boosts CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) Price Target to $198.00

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) had its target price raised by analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group from $195.00 to $198.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “sell” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. The Goldman Sachs Group’s price objective indicates a potential downside of 11.89% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on CME. Barclays raised their price target on shares of CME Group from $208.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. TD Cowen started coverage on CME Group in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $221.00 target price for the company. Bank of America upped their price target on CME Group from $177.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on CME Group from $193.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, CME Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $213.00.

CME Group Trading Up 0.5 %

CME traded up $1.14 during trading on Thursday, reaching $224.71. 828,252 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,956,342. The stock has a market capitalization of $80.91 billion, a PE ratio of 25.56, a P/E/G ratio of 8.74 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $211.20 and its 200 day moving average is $207.59. CME Group has a 12 month low of $190.70 and a 12 month high of $226.78.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued 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. The firm had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.53 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 12.82% and a net margin of 56.98%. The company’s revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.30 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that CME Group will post 9.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 7,593 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.59, for a total transaction of $1,629,381.87. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 55,607 shares in the company, valued at $11,932,706.13. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Lynne Fitzpatrick sold 754 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Sunday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.99, for a total transaction of $163,610.46. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 13,261 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,877,504.39. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 7,593 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.59, for a total transaction of $1,629,381.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 55,607 shares in the company, valued at $11,932,706.13. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of CME Group

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 10.1% during the 4th quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC now owns 28,344 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,969,000 after purchasing an additional 2,591 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado increased its position in CME Group by 231.8% in the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 54,157 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,405,000 after buying an additional 37,836 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,779,267 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $795,914,000 after buying an additional 111,129 shares during the period. Morningstar Investment Services LLC lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 123.7% during the 4th quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC now owns 6,564 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,385,000 after buying an additional 3,630 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vinva Investment Management Ltd lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 19.1% during the 4th quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 12,434 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,624,000 after buying an additional 1,991 shares during the last quarter. 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.