CME Group (CME) Given New $175.00 Price Target at Bank of America

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) had its price objective lifted by equities research analysts at Bank of America from $173.00 to $175.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Bank of America’s price target suggests a potential upside of 9.99% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on CME. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of CME Group from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Sandler O’Neill reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $175.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a research note on Friday. Berenberg Bank began coverage on shares of CME Group in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $170.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $172.00 price target (up previously from $155.00) on shares of CME Group in a research note on Monday. Finally, BidaskClub upgraded CME Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. The company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $155.08.

CME Group (CME) traded up $0.20 during trading on Friday, reaching $159.11. 2,887,838 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,310,000. CME Group has a 1 year low of $114.82 and a 1 year high of $163.00. The firm has a market cap of $54,140.00, a PE ratio of 13.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.02. CME Group had a net margin of 326.58% and a return on equity of 54.48%. The firm had revenue of $900.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $886.85 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.14 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. sell-side analysts predict that CME Group will post 4.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

In other news, CFO John W. Pietrowicz sold 7,500 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.50, for a total transaction of $1,136,250.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 32,376 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,904,964. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Sunil Cutinho sold 2,600 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Friday, November 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.57, for a total value of $362,882.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 22,301 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,112,550.57. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 37,428 shares of company stock worth $5,527,779 in the last 90 days. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CME. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 11.4% during the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 12,489,045 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,694,514,000 after acquiring an additional 1,279,058 shares during the period. Atlantic Trust Group LLC raised its holdings in CME Group by 1,943.2% in the 3rd quarter. Atlantic Trust Group LLC now owns 606,942 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $82,349,000 after buying an additional 577,237 shares during the period. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP raised its holdings in CME Group by 526.4% in the 3rd quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 565,472 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $76,723,000 after buying an additional 475,192 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in CME Group by 8,715.7% in the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 449,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $56,308,000 after buying an additional 444,500 shares during the period. Finally, Jackson Square Partners LLC purchased a new stake in CME Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $48,724,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.91% of the company’s stock.

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About CME Group

CME Group Inc, through its exchanges, provides products across all asset classes, including futures and options based on interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, energy, agricultural products and metals. The Company’s segment primarily consists of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc (CME), Board of Trade of the City of Chicago, Inc (CBOT), New York Mercantile Exchange, Inc (NYMEX) and Commodity Exchange, Inc (COMEX) exchanges.

Analyst Recommendations for CME Group (NASDAQ:CME)