CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) Price Target Raised to $263.00

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) had its price target upped by investment analysts at Morgan Stanley from $256.00 to $263.00 in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 6.11% from the stock’s previous close.

CME has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on CME Group from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on CME Group from $235.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price target on CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $236.13.

CME Group Stock Up 1.0 %

NASDAQ:CME opened at $247.86 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $236.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $226.68. CME Group has a 52 week low of $190.70 and a 52 week high of $253.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $89.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.75 and a beta of 0.57.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.46 by $0.06. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.62% and a net margin of 57.52%. Research analysts anticipate that CME Group will post 10.39 EPS for the current year.

CME Group announced that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, December 5th that permits the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CME Group news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total value of $2,888,378.64. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 21,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,453,085.45. The trade was a 34.63 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of CME Group

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of CME Group by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,243,090 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,952,273,000 after buying an additional 326,623 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of CME Group by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,389,442 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,946,717,000 after buying an additional 104,697 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of CME Group by 89.9% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,280,785 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,923,047,000 after buying an additional 3,921,278 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 4th quarter valued at $1,107,389,000. Finally, FIL Ltd grew its stake in shares of CME Group by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 4,081,391 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $947,821,000 after buying an additional 61,908 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CME Group Company Profile

CME Group Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates contract markets for the trading of futures and options on futures contracts worldwide. It offers futures and options products based on interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, agricultural commodities, energy, and metals, as well as fixed income and foreign currency trading services.