Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Reiterates Market Perform Rating for CME Group (NASDAQ:CME)

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME)‘s stock had its “market perform” rating reiterated by equities researchers at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods in a research report issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $226.00 price target on the financial services provider’s stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ target price points to a potential upside of 15.27% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on CME. Argus boosted their price objective on CME Group from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut CME Group from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $206.00 to $187.00 in a report on Friday, June 21st. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $187.00 target price (up from $185.00) on shares of CME Group in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Barclays upped their target price on CME Group from $226.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $210.00 target price (down from $235.00) on shares of CME Group in a report on Friday, April 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, CME Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $215.90.

CME Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ CME opened at $196.06 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $70.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.30, a P/E/G ratio of 5.20 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $204.17 and its 200-day moving average price is $208.32. CME Group has a fifty-two week low of $180.11 and a fifty-two week high of $223.80.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by $0.06. CME Group had a return on equity of 12.45% and a net margin of 56.84%. The company had revenue of $1.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.48 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.42 EPS. CME Group’s revenue was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that CME Group will post 9.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Daniel R. Glickman sold 650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.44, for a total transaction of $130,936.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 14,008 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,821,771.52. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.91, for a total transaction of $8,436,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 67,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,226,934.05. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Daniel R. Glickman sold 650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.44, for a total value of $130,936.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 14,008 shares in the company, valued at $2,821,771.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 54,290 shares of company stock worth $11,393,700 in the last three months. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Truist Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 15.9% in the third quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 82,384 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $16,495,000 after purchasing an additional 11,307 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 7.3% in the third quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 236,855 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $47,418,000 after purchasing an additional 16,116 shares during the period. Scotia Capital Inc. increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 3.7% in the third quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 1,861 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $373,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 3.0% in the third quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 44,919 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,994,000 after purchasing an additional 1,307 shares during the period. Finally, Royal London Asset Management Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 17.7% in the third quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 386,592 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $77,411,000 after purchasing an additional 58,230 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.