CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) Price Target Raised to $318.00

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) had its price objective boosted by Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft from $310.00 to $318.00 in a research note published on Wednesday morning,MarketScreener reports. They currently have a buy rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised their price target on shares of CME Group from $297.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Argus reduced their price objective on CME Group from $308.00 to $295.00 in a report on Friday, October 31st. TD Cowen boosted their target price on CME Group from $288.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on CME Group from $252.00 to $256.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on CME Group from $264.00 to $263.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 4th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $290.47.

CME Group Trading Up 1.2%

NASDAQ CME opened at $269.09 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $272.32 and its 200-day moving average is $271.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $97.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.07, a PEG ratio of 3.97 and a beta of 0.28. CME Group has a one year low of $224.62 and a one year high of $290.79.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.63 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.56 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 58.84% and a return on equity of 14.61%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.68 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that CME Group will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be given a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.45%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Harold Eugene Jr. Ford sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $263.53, for a total value of $263,530.00. Following the sale, the director owned 1,091 shares in the company, valued at approximately $287,511.23. This trade represents a 47.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director William R. Shepard purchased 262 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 25th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $265.19 per share, with a total value of $69,479.78. Following the transaction, the director owned 258,459 shares in the company, valued at approximately $68,540,742.21. The trade was a 0.10% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CME. Keel Point LLC boosted its holdings in CME Group by 10.3% in the third quarter. Keel Point LLC now owns 1,569 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $424,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. Mirabella Financial Services LLP lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 211.7% in the 3rd quarter. Mirabella Financial Services LLP now owns 16,823 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,536,000 after purchasing an additional 11,425 shares during the period. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 551.6% in the 3rd quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP now owns 33,554 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,066,000 after purchasing an additional 40,984 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 56,447 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $15,252,000 after purchasing an additional 603 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc increased its position in shares of CME Group by 12.7% during the third quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 1,805 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $488,000 after buying an additional 204 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.