CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) Price Target Cut to $324.00 by Analysts at Morgan Stanley

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) had its price target decreased by Morgan Stanley from $353.00 to $324.00 in a report published on Friday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on CME. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of CME Group from $323.00 to $273.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on CME Group from $342.00 to $322.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Piper Sandler set a $320.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. Rothschild & Co Redburn upgraded shares of CME Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $316.00 to $323.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of CME Group from $316.00 to $270.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, CME Group currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $293.59.

CME Group Price Performance

CME traded up $0.56 on Friday, hitting $240.27. 1,979,543 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,891,472. The firm has a market capitalization of $87.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.50, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. CME Group has a 12 month low of $218.31 and a 12 month high of $329.16. The business has a 50-day moving average of $262.66 and a two-hundred day moving average of $283.19.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.36 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.11 by $0.25. The firm 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%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.80 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that CME Group will post 12.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 9th were issued a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 9th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other CME Group news, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 35,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 55,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,606,111.30. The trade was a 38.62% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 5,753 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.63, for a total transaction of $1,752,536.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider 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 SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in CME Group by 345.2% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 237,898 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $64,965,000 after acquiring an additional 184,459 shares during the last quarter. FLC Capital Advisors acquired a new position in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,122,000. First Bank & Trust acquired a new position in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,325,000. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. now owns 140,210 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $38,289,000 after purchasing an additional 3,931 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MOKAN Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 138.8% during the 4th quarter. MOKAN Wealth Management Inc. now owns 7,144 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,953,000 after purchasing an additional 4,152 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting CME Group

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

• Positive Sentiment: CME announced new products aimed at expanding trading activity, including Treasury LINK for U.S. Treasury spread trading and a new agriculture index that offers a unified benchmark for the global farm economy. CME Group to launch Treasury LINK for enhanced US Treasury spread trading CME Group’s New Agriculture Index Delivers Unified Price Benchmark for the Global Farm Economy
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley kept an overweight rating but lowered its price target on CME to $324 from $353, while Barclays cut its target to $270 and moved to equal weight, signaling reduced near-term expectations but not a fundamentally bearish view. Morgan Stanley cuts CME price target Barclays cuts CME price target
• Negative Sentiment: The CFTC blocked CME’s plan to fast-track 24/7 crude oil futures trading, a setback that could limit a potentially important new revenue stream and raises regulatory risk around product innovation. CFTC to block CME’s plan for 24/7 crude oil futures trading CFTC Blocks for Now CME’s Plan to Offer 24/7 Oil Futures
• Negative Sentiment: Reports also pointed to weaker trading volumes and rising competition weighing on CME Group, which could pressure transaction-based revenue growth if activity remains soft. Competition And Weaker Trading Volumes Are Weighing On CME Group (CME) 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.