CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) Price Target Raised to $263.00

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) had its price target lifted by Barclays from $257.00 to $263.00 in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an equal weight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $235.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on CME Group from $210.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on CME Group from $260.00 to $256.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on CME Group from $245.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, CME Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $234.13.

CME Group Trading Down 1.9 %

CME Group stock opened at $245.48 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $235.95 and a two-hundred day moving average of $225.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. CME Group has a one year low of $190.70 and a one year high of $253.53. The stock has a market cap of $88.46 billion, a PE ratio of 25.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.57.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.46 by $0.06. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.39% and a net margin of 57.34%. On average, research analysts anticipate that CME Group will post 10.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $1.25 per share. This is a boost from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.37%.

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

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In related news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total value of $2,888,378.64. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 21,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,453,085.45. This represents a 34.63 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of CME Group

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of CME Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,107,389,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in CME Group by 89.9% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,280,785 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,923,047,000 after buying an additional 3,921,278 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in CME Group during the fourth quarter worth $871,063,000. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in CME Group by 70.4% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,427,107 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $544,157,000 after buying an additional 1,003,119 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Wealth Planning LLC grew its position in shares of CME Group by 69.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 2,435,823 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $565,671,000 after purchasing an additional 996,498 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.