CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) Hits New 1-Year High Following Analyst Upgrade

CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) shares hit a new 52-week high on Monday after Weiss Ratings upgraded the stock from a buy (b+) rating to a buy (a-) rating. The company traded as high as $326.26 and last traded at $324.1840, with a volume of 229840 shares. The stock had previously closed at $319.50.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Rothschild & Co Redburn boosted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $300.00 to $333.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of CME Group from $304.00 to $312.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of CME Group from $201.00 to $209.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on CME Group from $264.00 to $266.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $310.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a research report on Friday, February 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, CME Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $302.71.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In other news, Director Dennis Suskind sold 748 shares of the 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 transaction, the director owned 2,699 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $809,700. This represents a 21.70% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $269.55, for a total value of $6,738,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 65,804 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,737,468.20. This trade represents a 27.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 30,248 shares of company stock valued at $8,355,450. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

More CME Group News

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

• Positive Sentiment: CME reported a new monthly ADV record of 37.6 million contracts in February (up 14% YoY), driven by record activity in rates, agriculture and international products — this supports recurring fee revenue and higher near-term trading revenue. CME Group Sets New Monthly ADV Record
• Positive Sentiment: Dairy futures and options hit new open-interest and monthly ADV records (OI 403,113 contracts; monthly ADV 11,234 contracts), highlighting product-level growth and diversification of volume sources. CME Group Reaches New Open Interest and Volume Records in Dairy Futures and Options
• Positive Sentiment: Jefferies raised its price target to $356 and kept a Buy rating, signaling analyst confidence and implying upside vs. recent levels. That upgrade can support investor demand and sentiment. Jefferies Adjusts Price Target on CME Group
• Neutral Sentiment: CME presented prepared remarks at the Raymond James Institutional Investor Conference — investor outreach with management commentary can help clarify strategy but typically has limited immediate impact. CME Presents at Raymond James Conference
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage notes CME has outperformed the Dow over the past year and analysts remain moderately optimistic — useful context for positioning but not a direct catalyst. Is CME Group Stock Outperforming the Dow?
• Neutral Sentiment: Reported short-interest data in the feed shows 0 shares/NaN changes and 0 days-to-cover — this appears to be a data anomaly and is not meaningful for positioning.
• Negative Sentiment: The exchange rejected compensation demands from at least two natural-gas traders after a technical glitch that disrupted trading during settlement pricing — the dispute raises reputational, operational and potential regulatory/legal risk. CME Rebuffs Traders Seeking to Recoup Losses From Outage
• Negative Sentiment: Bitcoin futures demand has slid toward 2024 lows, which could depress volumes and fees from crypto-linked products if the trend continues — though CME still shows sizable open interest in crypto. Bitcoin futures demand falls to 2024 lows

Institutional Trading of CME Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CME. Caldwell Trust Co raised its holdings in CME Group by 116.3% in the 3rd quarter. Caldwell Trust Co now owns 93 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Asset Dedication LLC boosted its holdings in CME Group by 64.9% during the fourth quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 94 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the period. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group in the third quarter valued at about $27,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Elkhorn Partners Limited Partnership bought a new position in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CME Group Stock Down 0.4%

The firm has a 50-day moving average of $289.69 and a two-hundred day moving average of $276.71. The firm has a market cap of $117.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.13, a PEG ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 0.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

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

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 10th. CME Group’s payout ratio is presently 44.80%.

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.