CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) Given New $245.00 Price Target at The Goldman Sachs Group

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) had its price target cut by analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group from $267.00 to $245.00 in a report released on Tuesday,MarketScreener reports. The brokerage presently has a “sell” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. The Goldman Sachs Group’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 9.40% from the stock’s current price.

CME has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Raymond James Financial increased their target price on shares of CME Group from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Weiss Ratings cut CME Group from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on CME Group from $356.00 to $349.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of CME Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 13th. Finally, Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $300.94.

CME Group Trading Up 2.5%

NASDAQ CME traded up $5.37 on Tuesday, hitting $223.95. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 278,910 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,694,057. The company’s 50-day moving average is $271.58 and its 200 day moving average is $285.49. The firm has a market cap of $81.15 billion, a PE ratio of 19.04, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.21. CME Group has a 1-year low of $218.31 and a 1-year high of $329.16. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.36 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.11 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.77 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 63.19% and a return on equity of 15.42%. CME Group’s revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.80 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that CME Group will post 12.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other CME Group news, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 5,753 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.63, for a total value of $1,752,536.39. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 27,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,438,860.26. This trade represents a 17.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 35,000 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $298.51, for a total transaction of $10,447,850.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 55,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,606,111.30. This represents a 38.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CME Group

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Militia Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of CME Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $2,558,000. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. raised its position in CME Group by 8.1% in the 1st quarter. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 16,578 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,896,000 after buying an additional 1,236 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its stake in CME Group by 12.9% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 67,317 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $19,882,000 after acquiring an additional 7,672 shares in the last quarter. First Nebraska Trust Co bought a new position in CME Group during the 1st quarter valued at $577,000. Finally, Keel Point LLC boosted its holdings in CME Group by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. Keel Point LLC now owns 1,510 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $446,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.