Morgan Stanley Issues Positive Forecast for CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) Stock Price

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) had its target price raised by Morgan Stanley from $256.00 to $263.00 in a report published on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an equal weight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Citigroup lowered shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of CME Group from $257.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $236.13.

CME Group Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ CME opened at $250.75 on Wednesday. CME Group has a 12-month low of $190.70 and a 12-month high of $253.53. The company has a market cap of $90.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.93, a P/E/G ratio of 6.75 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $236.62 and a 200 day moving average price of $226.85.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.46 by $0.06. CME Group had a net margin of 57.52% and a return on equity of 13.62%. Research analysts anticipate that CME Group will post 10.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.99%. This is a boost from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.71%.

CME Group announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total transaction of $2,888,378.64. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 21,885 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,453,085.45. This trade represents a 34.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CME Group

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

CME Group Company Profile

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.