CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) Sets New 52-Week High Following Analyst Upgrade

CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday after Oppenheimer raised their price target on the stock from $228.00 to $245.00. Oppenheimer currently has an outperform rating on the stock. CME Group traded as high as $226.96 and last traded at $226.96, with a volume of 436 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $224.20.

Several other research firms also recently commented on CME. Redburn Atlantic downgraded CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $244.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Bank of America raised their target price on CME Group from $177.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Piper Sandler raised their target price on CME Group from $225.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on CME Group from $187.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on CME Group from $212.00 to $213.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $219.53.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Lynne Fitzpatrick sold 754 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Sunday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.99, for a total value 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. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Lynne Fitzpatrick sold 754 shares of CME Group 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 $2,877,504.39. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 7,593 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.59, for a total value of $1,629,381.87. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 55,607 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,932,706.13. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Salomon & Ludwin LLC bought a new stake in shares of CME Group in the first quarter valued at about $28,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd bought a new stake in shares of CME Group in the second quarter valued at about $36,000. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of CME Group in the first quarter valued at about $41,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 62.2% in the third quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 193 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Finally, McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 66.1% in the second quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 196 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CME Group Trading Up 0.3 %

The company has a market capitalization of $80.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.76 and a beta of 0.55. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $215.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $208.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.53 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.30 earnings per share. CME Group’s revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 9th were paid a $1.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 9th. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.05%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is 52.33%.

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.