CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) Price Target Increased to $231.00 by Analysts at Barclays

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) had its price target boosted by Barclays from $219.00 to $231.00 in a report released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an equal weight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

CME has been the topic of several other research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of CME Group from $187.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of CME Group from $195.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of CME Group from $177.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen started coverage on CME Group in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $221.00 target price on the stock. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $222.07.

CME Group Stock Performance

CME Group stock opened at $226.14 on Thursday. CME Group has a fifty-two week low of $190.70 and a fifty-two week high of $230.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market cap of $81.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.76 and a beta of 0.55. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $218.94 and its 200-day moving average price is $208.87.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.65 by $0.03. CME Group had a return on equity of 12.82% and a net margin of 56.98%. The company had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.59 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.25 EPS. CME Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that CME Group will post 10.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Investors of record on Monday, September 9th were issued a $1.15 dividend. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 9th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.33%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Lynne Fitzpatrick sold 754 shares of the stock in a transaction on Sunday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.99, for a total transaction of $163,610.46. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 13,261 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,877,504.39. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, CFO Lynne Fitzpatrick sold 754 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Sunday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.99, for a total value of $163,610.46. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 13,261 shares in the company, valued at $2,877,504.39. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 7,593 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.59, for a total transaction of $1,629,381.87. Following the sale, the director now owns 55,607 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,932,706.13. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in CME Group by 24.1% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 15,809,175 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,403,557,000 after buying an additional 3,069,806 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 11.3% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,283,196 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,038,676,000 after purchasing an additional 537,758 shares in the last quarter. GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd increased its position in CME Group by 1.1% in the first quarter. GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd now owns 4,009,068 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $863,112,000 after purchasing an additional 43,293 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates raised its stake in CME Group by 3.2% during the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 3,029,145 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $595,530,000 after purchasing an additional 94,302 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in CME Group by 6.6% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,835,075 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $557,371,000 after purchasing an additional 176,004 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.