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

CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) shares hit a new 52-week high during trading 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 analysts have also recently issued reports on CME. TD Cowen started coverage on CME Group in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $221.00 price target for the company. Barclays increased their price target on CME Group from $209.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on CME Group from $195.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $235.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on CME Group from $187.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $219.53.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Lynne Fitzpatrick sold 754 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Lynne Fitzpatrick sold 754 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 7,593 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 $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. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CME Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CME. Salomon & Ludwin LLC acquired a new position in shares of CME Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd acquired a new position in shares of CME Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $36,000. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of CME Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $41,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 62.2% during the 3rd quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 193 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Finally, McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 66.1% during the 2nd quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 196 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CME Group Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $80.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.76 and a beta of 0.55. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $215.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $208.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick 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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.30 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.04 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

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