Piper Sandler Cuts CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) Price Target to $295.00

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) had its price objective reduced by Piper Sandler from $329.00 to $295.00 in a research note published on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

CME has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of CME Group from $353.00 to $324.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $320.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Barclays lowered their price target on CME Group from $316.00 to $270.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on CME Group from $356.00 to $349.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on CME Group from $342.00 to $322.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $292.12.

CME Group Stock Down 0.5%

CME opened at $245.05 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $258.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $282.12. The company has a market cap of $88.80 billion, a PE ratio of 20.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.25. CME Group has a 1 year low of $218.31 and a 1 year high of $329.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.36 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.11 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.77 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 63.19% and a return on equity of 15.42%. CME Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.80 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that CME Group will post 12.21 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 9th were given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 9th. CME Group’s payout ratio is presently 44.37%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director William R. Shepard bought 325 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 25th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $230.57 per share, for a total transaction of $74,935.25. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 260,442 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $60,050,111.94. This trade represents a 0.12% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 5,753 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.63, for a total transaction of $1,752,536.39. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 27,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,438,860.26. The trade was a 17.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of CME Group

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Lederer & Associates Investment Counsel CA increased its position in shares of CME Group by 13.1% during the second quarter. Lederer & Associates Investment Counsel CA now owns 5,424 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,198,000 after acquiring an additional 627 shares during the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its holdings in CME Group by 0.7% in the second quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 129,709 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,644,000 after purchasing an additional 915 shares during the last quarter. Perkins Coie Trust Co boosted its holdings in CME Group by 9.0% in the second quarter. Perkins Coie Trust Co now owns 2,613 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $577,000 after purchasing an additional 215 shares during the last quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. grew its stake in CME Group by 24.7% during the 2nd quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 2,053 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $453,000 after purchasing an additional 406 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harrell Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in CME Group by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC now owns 26,479 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,847,000 after purchasing an additional 653 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.