CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) Price Target Raised to $216.00

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) had its price objective increased by Bank of America from $209.00 to $216.00 in a research note published on Thursday, Benzinga reports. Bank of America currently has a neutral rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

CME has been the topic of a number of other reports. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a sell rating and issued a $187.00 price objective (up from $185.00) on shares of CME Group in a research note on Thursday. Barclays raised their target price on shares of CME Group from $225.00 to $226.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Argus raised their target price on shares of CME Group from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of CME Group from $222.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of CME Group from $222.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, CME Group presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $217.80.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CME opened at $210.94 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $214.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $211.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $75.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.92 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.02. CME Group has a 1 year low of $175.73 and a 1 year high of $223.80.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $1.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.48 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 56.84% and a return on equity of 12.45%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.42 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that CME Group will post 9.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a dividend of $1.15 per share. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.18%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.10. CME Group’s payout ratio is 52.33%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CME Group

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CME. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of CME Group during the third quarter worth $25,000. Gold Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of CME Group during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Northwest Financial Advisors acquired a new position in shares of CME Group during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in CME Group by 966.7% in the fourth quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 160 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 145 shares during the period. Finally, Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA acquired a new position in CME Group in the third quarter valued at $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

About CME Group

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.