CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) Reaches New 52-Week High Following Analyst Upgrade

CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday after The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on the stock from $264.00 to $266.00. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a sell rating on the stock. CME Group traded as high as $307.84 and last traded at $307.24, with a volume of 2350576 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $302.27.

CME has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Raymond James Financial lowered their price objective on shares of CME Group from $311.00 to $310.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Rothschild & Co Redburn increased their price target on CME Group from $297.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on CME Group from $319.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on CME Group from $304.00 to $302.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on CME Group from $312.00 to $316.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $297.59.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In other CME Group news, Director Dennis Suskind sold 748 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $224,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 2,699 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $809,700. The trade was a 21.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director William R. Shepard purchased 251 shares of CME Group 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 transaction, 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. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

More CME Group News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Large institutional buy — Intermede Investment Partners disclosed a new ~$77.8M position in CME on a 13F filing, signaling meaningful institutional demand that can support the share rally. Fund Update: New $77.8M $CME stock position opened by Intermede Investment Partners Ltd
• Positive Sentiment: Product / distribution win — FlexTrade integrated CME’s FX Spot+ and EBS Market offerings into its FlexFX system, expanding CME’s distribution and potential FX flow capture. That supports revenue growth in FX products. FlexTrade Integrates CME Group’s FX Spot+ and EBS Market Offerings for Enhanced FX Trading
• Neutral Sentiment: Valuation note — A Seeking Alpha piece argues CME’s fundamentals are strong but the stock looks “fully valued,” reinforcing mixed views among investors about near-term upside vs. stretched multiples. CME Group’s Strength Is Clear, But The Stock Looks Fully Valued
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling — Director Dennis Suskind sold 748 shares (~21.7% of his holding) for ~$224k; this is one of several recent insider sales disclosed and can be interpreted as a modest negative signal by some investors. SEC Form 4: Dennis Suskind sale
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst stance — Goldman Sachs kept a sell rating on CME while nudging its price target to $266, which reinforces downside views among some institutional investors and may cap upside despite bullish flows. Goldman Sachs adjusts price target on CME Group to $266 from $264, maintains sell rating

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CME Group

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in CME Group during the second quarter valued at about $1,571,447,000. Sanders Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group during the third quarter worth about $1,006,932,000. Strive Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in CME Group during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $636,487,000. Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd bought a new stake in CME Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $217,656,000. Finally, Mawer Investment Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in CME Group by 107.2% in the 3rd quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,502,752 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $406,029,000 after purchasing an additional 777,571 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Up 1.6%

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 50 day simple moving average of $277.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $273.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $110.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.53, a P/E/G ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.27.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.75 by $0.02. CME Group had a net margin of 62.45% and a return on equity of 14.65%. The firm had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.64 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.52 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.