CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) Price Target Raised to $311.00

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) had its price target raised by Raymond James Financial from $307.00 to $311.00 in a research report sent to investors on Monday,MarketScreener reports. Raymond James Financial currently has an outperform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

CME has been the subject of several other research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of CME Group from $264.00 to $263.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. Rothschild & Co Redburn boosted their target price on shares of CME Group from $297.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of CME Group from $283.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Argus dropped their price target on shares of CME Group from $308.00 to $295.00 in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of CME Group in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $291.06.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of CME opened at $266.83 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $273.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $271.99. The firm has a market cap of $96.22 billion, a PE ratio of 25.86, a P/E/G ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 0.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. CME Group has a 1-year low of $225.46 and a 1-year high of $290.79.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.63 by $0.05. CME Group had a return on equity of 14.61% and a net margin of 58.84%.The company had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.56 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.68 earnings per share. CME Group’s revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that CME Group will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 12th were given a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 12th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other CME Group news, Director Harold Eugene Jr. Ford sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $263.53, for a total transaction of $263,530.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 1,091 shares in the company, valued at approximately $287,511.23. This represents a 47.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $269.55, for a total transaction of $6,738,750.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 65,804 shares in the company, valued at $17,737,468.20. This trade represents a 27.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Amundi grew its position in shares of CME Group by 24.0% during the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 1,987,347 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $548,150,000 after acquiring an additional 385,225 shares during the period. Victory Financial Group LLC boosted its position in CME Group by 310.2% during the second quarter. Victory Financial Group LLC now owns 3,044 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $839,000 after purchasing an additional 2,302 shares in the last quarter. Investors Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych Spolka Akcyjna acquired a new stake in CME Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,389,000. Truist Financial Corp grew its holdings in CME Group by 10.0% in the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 64,939 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $17,898,000 after purchasing an additional 5,914 shares during the period. Finally, Chicago Capital LLC increased its position in shares of CME Group by 583.8% in the third quarter. Chicago Capital LLC now owns 13,327 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,601,000 after buying an additional 11,378 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About CME Group

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.