CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) Upgraded by Raymond James to Outperform Rating

Raymond James upgraded shares of CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) from a market perform rating to an outperform rating in a report released on Monday morning, Marketbeat reports. They currently have $287.00 target price on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on CME. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of CME Group from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $256.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on shares of CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on CME Group from $235.00 to $269.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $238.93.

CME Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ CME opened at $262.28 on Monday. CME Group has a 52-week low of $190.70 and a 52-week high of $262.51. The stock has a market cap of $94.51 billion, a PE ratio of 27.12, a P/E/G ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.53. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $240.68 and a 200-day moving average of $231.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.01.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.46 by $0.06. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.62% and a net margin of 57.52%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that CME Group will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

CME Group announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, December 5th that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.91%. This is a boost from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. CME Group’s payout ratio is 51.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other CME Group news, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.83, for a total transaction of $385,245.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 8,036 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,063,885.88. The trade was a 15.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 3,984 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.47, for a total value of $997,872.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 27,046 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,774,211.62. The trade was a 12.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 17,076 shares of company stock worth $4,271,496 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of CME Group

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC boosted its position in CME Group by 108.7% during the 4th quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 12,390 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,949,000 after buying an additional 6,453 shares during the period. Meyer Handelman Co. bought a new position in shares of CME Group during the fourth quarter valued at $6,144,000. Spire Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 37.4% during the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 1,320 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $307,000 after purchasing an additional 359 shares during the period. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc grew its stake in shares of CME Group by 19.3% in the fourth quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc now owns 326,098 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $75,730,000 after purchasing an additional 52,862 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can grew its stake in shares of CME Group by 41.8% in the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,028,090 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $224,432,000 after purchasing an additional 303,169 shares during the last quarter. 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.