CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) Price Target Raised to $206.00

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) had its target price lifted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $198.00 to $206.00 in a research note released on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $222.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a hold rating and set a $210.00 price target (down from $235.00) on shares of CME Group in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of CME Group from $222.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research note on Thursday. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a sell rating and set a $187.00 price target (up from $185.00) on shares of CME Group in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of CME Group from $209.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $217.80.

CME Group Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of CME stock opened at $210.94 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $214.73 and its 200-day moving average price is $211.87. 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 market cap of $75.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.00, a PEG ratio of 5.92 and a beta of 0.49. CME Group has a twelve month low of $175.73 and a twelve month high of $223.80.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.44 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $1.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.48 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 56.84% and a return on equity of 12.45%. CME Group’s revenue was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.42 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that CME Group will post 9.67 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a dividend of $1.15 per share. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.18%. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.33%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CME Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Phoenix Wealth Advisors boosted its holdings in CME Group by 1.5% in the first quarter. Phoenix Wealth Advisors now owns 12,072 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,599,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Conning Inc. boosted its holdings in CME Group by 13.4% in the first quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 171,235 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $36,793,000 after purchasing an additional 20,295 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in CME Group by 198.9% in the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 69,832 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $15,034,000 after purchasing an additional 46,471 shares in the last quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE boosted its holdings in CME Group by 3.2% in the first quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 9,072 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,953,000 after purchasing an additional 279 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SlateStone Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in CME Group by 3.4% in the first quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC now owns 5,993 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,290,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.