Piper Sandler Lowers CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) Price Target to $295.00

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) had its target price reduced by equities research analysts at Piper Sandler from $329.00 to $295.00 in a report released on Wednesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Piper Sandler’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 19.79% from the stock’s current price.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on CME. Wall Street Zen cut CME Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Sunday, July 12th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on CME Group from $356.00 to $349.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded CME Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Barclays lowered their price target on CME Group from $316.00 to $270.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their price objective on CME Group from $323.00 to $273.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $292.12.

CME Group Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of CME Group stock opened at $246.27 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $89.24 billion, a PE ratio of 21.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.25. CME Group has a 52-week low of $218.31 and a 52-week high of $329.16. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $259.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $282.38.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.36 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.11 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.77 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 63.19% and a return on equity of 15.42%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.80 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that CME Group will post 12.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director William R. Shepard purchased 325 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 25th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $230.57 per share, with a total value of $74,935.25. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 260,442 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $60,050,111.94. This represents a 0.12% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 5,753 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.63, for a total value of $1,752,536.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 27,702 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,438,860.26. This trade represents a 17.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of CME Group

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of CME Group by 2,075.0% during the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the period. Asset Dedication LLC lifted its stake in shares of CME Group by 64.9% in the 4th quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 94 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. FNY Investment Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Elkhorn Partners Limited Partnership purchased a new position in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in CME Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

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.