Raymond James Financial Cuts CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) Price Target to $310.00

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) had its price target cut by Raymond James Financial from $311.00 to $310.00 in a research note released on Wednesday morning,MarketScreener reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on CME. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised their price target on CME Group from $297.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on CME Group from $296.00 to $313.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on CME Group from $265.00 to $264.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on CME Group from $283.00 to $287.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, October 13th. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on shares of CME Group from $201.00 to $209.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $297.47.

CME Group Price Performance

CME Group stock opened at $302.27 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $276.90 and its 200-day moving average is $273.03. CME Group has a 12 month low of $239.70 and a 12 month high of $302.79. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The company has a market capitalization of $109.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.09, a PEG ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.27.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.77 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.75 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.64 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 14.65% and a net margin of 62.45%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.52 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that CME Group will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 25,000 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 65,804 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,737,468.20. This trade represents a 27.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director William R. Shepard purchased 251 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 30th. The stock was bought at an average price of $278.37 per share, with a total value of $69,870.87. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 258,710 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $72,017,102.70. This represents a 0.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CME Group

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,895,583 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,802,366,000 after buying an additional 588,509 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in CME Group by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,178,681 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,524,271,000 after buying an additional 319,899 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,571,447,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in CME Group by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,812,914 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,300,450,000 after acquiring an additional 130,848 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in CME Group by 6.6% during the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,833,090 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,056,476,000 after buying an additional 238,522 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Trending Headlines about CME Group

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

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 earnings beat and commentary reinforced the firm’s resilient fee-based franchise — investors reacted to better-than-expected quarterly results and the company hitting a new one-year high after the report. Earnings Call Transcript
• Positive Sentiment: Deutsche Bank raised its price target to $316 and maintained a buy rating, giving fresh analyst support that can help momentum. Deutsche Bank PT Raise
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley reiterated a Buy rating, highlighting CME’s defensive, fee-based franchise and structural growth drivers. Morgan Stanley Note
• Neutral Sentiment: RBC nudged its target to $302 (sector perform) — a small technical change that largely preserves prior sentiment. RBC PT Adjustment
• Positive Sentiment: Management confirmed the firm is exploring a CME-issued digital token and tokenized cash pilots (including work with Google), a strategic move that could expand 24/7 crypto/product offerings and new non-trading revenue streams. CME Token Exploration
• Negative Sentiment: CME raised initial and maintenance margins for gold and silver futures (e.g., gold margins to 9% from 8%, silver to 18% from 15%) to manage sharp volatility — measures that can damp trading volume and futures activity in the near term. Margin Hikes
• Negative Sentiment: Pelican Bay Capital reported selling CME in Q4, signaling at least some institutional trimming that could weigh on sentiment if others follow. Institutional Selling
• Negative Sentiment: JPMorgan still carries an underweight rating despite updating its target — a reminder there are pockets of skepticism about valuation and upside. JPMorgan Note

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.