Barclays Raises CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) Price Target to $231.00

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

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $212.00 to $213.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on CME Group from $210.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of CME Group from $225.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on CME Group from $193.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of CME Group from $187.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, CME Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $222.07.

CME Group Stock Down 0.7 %

CME traded down $1.62 on Thursday, hitting $228.07. The company had a trading volume of 61,043 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,926,543. The stock has a market capitalization of $82.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.13, a P/E/G ratio of 7.76 and a beta of 0.55. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $218.08 and a 200-day moving average price of $208.66. CME Group has a 12-month low of $190.70 and a 12-month 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.

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

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 9th were issued a dividend of $1.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 9th. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.02%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.33%.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In other CME Group news, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 7,593 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.59, for a total value of $1,629,381.87. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 55,607 shares in the company, valued at $11,932,706.13. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 7,593 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.59, for a total transaction of $1,629,381.87. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 55,607 shares in the company, valued at $11,932,706.13. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Lynne Fitzpatrick sold 754 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Sunday, September 15th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $2,877,504.39. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. CVA Family Office LLC grew its position in CME Group by 11.8% in the 3rd quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 436 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $96,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its stake in shares of CME Group by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 1,160 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $250,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the period. Lester Murray Antman dba SimplyRich lifted its stake in shares of CME Group by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Lester Murray Antman dba SimplyRich now owns 7,667 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,507,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Essex LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 3.3% in the first quarter. Essex LLC now owns 1,649 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $355,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quent Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 10.2% during the third quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 593 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $131,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is currently 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.