CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) Price Target Raised to $347.00

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) had its price objective increased by Rothschild & Co Redburn from $333.00 to $347.00 in a report released on Thursday morning,MarketScreener reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also commented on CME. Erste Group Bank upgraded CME Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $310.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a report on Friday, February 6th. Weiss Ratings upgraded CME Group from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on CME Group from $296.00 to $313.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of CME Group from $304.00 to $312.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, CME Group has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $303.53.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CME opened at $311.40 on Thursday. CME Group has a 12-month low of $248.53 and a 12-month high of $329.16. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $295.80 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $278.99. The firm has a market cap of $112.29 billion, a PE ratio of 27.90, a PEG ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 0.24. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.77 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.75 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.64 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 62.45% and a return on equity of 14.65%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.52 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that CME Group will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be paid a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 10th. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is 46.59%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Dennis Suskind sold 748 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $224,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 2,699 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $809,700. The trade was a 21.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 4,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.65, for a total value of $1,300,530.00. Following the sale, the director owned 43,007 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,317,117.55. This represents a 8.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 5,248 shares of company stock worth $1,616,700 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Caldwell Trust Co increased its position in CME Group by 116.3% during the 3rd quarter. Caldwell Trust Co now owns 93 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Asset Dedication LLC boosted its position in CME Group by 64.9% in the fourth quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 94 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA acquired a new stake in CME Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of CME Group during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Elkhorn Partners Limited Partnership bought a new stake in shares of CME Group during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting CME Group

Here are the key news stories impacting CME Group this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Rothschild & Co Redburn raised its price target on CME to $347 (maintaining a “neutral” rating), implying roughly double-digit upside from recent levels and offering fresh analyst support for the shares. Rothschild Co Redburn adjusts price target on CME to 347 from 333, maintains neutral rating
• Neutral Sentiment: CME’s CEO Terry Duffy publicly warned that U.S. government intervention in oil futures markets would be highly damaging; exchanges including CME have voiced opposition to potential Treasury action. This raises policy/regulatory risk for energy derivatives but also underscores the exchange’s central role in market integrity — a factor that can support trading volumes in energy products if volatility rises. US intervention in oil futures would be ‘biblical disaster’, CME warns CME Group CEO warns against US intervention in oil futures markets US intervention in oil futures market could be disastrous: CME Group
• Neutral Sentiment: Short-interest reporting in recent feeds shows zero or nonsensical values and appears to be a data anomaly rather than a real bearish signal; treat those short-interest items with caution. (Market impact minimal until corrected.)
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: Ken Vroman (Chief Transformation Officer) sold about 5,160 shares (~$1.59M) and SEC filings show multiple recent insider sales across senior staff. While insider sales can be routine, the cadence and size may raise governance/owner-sentiment questions for some investors. CME Group’s Vroman sells $1.59 million in stock Insider Sale: Chief Transformation Officer of $CME Sells 5,160 Shares

CME Group Company Profile

CME Group Inc is a global markets company that operates some of the world’s largest and most liquid derivatives exchanges, including the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) and COMEX. The firm offers futures and options contracts across a broad range of asset classes — including interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, energy, agricultural commodities and metals — and serves a diverse client base of institutional investors, commercial hedgers, brokers and retail participants.

The company’s core services include electronic trading on the CME Globex platform, central clearing through CME Clearing, and distribution of market data, indexes and analytics.