CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) Price Target Raised to $226.00

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) had its price target lifted by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $222.00 to $226.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a market perform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

CME has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Argus boosted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $222.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a hold rating and issued a $210.00 price objective (down previously from $235.00) on shares of CME Group in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $225.00 to $226.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of CME Group from a neutral rating to a sell rating and set a $195.00 target price for the company. in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $217.80.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME opened at $210.94 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The stock has a market cap of $75.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.00, a PEG ratio of 5.87 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a 50-day moving average of $214.73 and a two-hundred day moving average of $211.83. CME Group has a 12-month low of $175.73 and a 12-month high of $223.80.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $1.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.48 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 56.84% and a return on equity of 12.45%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.42 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that CME Group will post 9.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a dividend of $1.15 per share. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.10. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.18%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. CME Group’s payout ratio is currently 52.33%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CME Group

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CME. AE Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in CME Group by 25.5% during the third quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,543 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $509,000 after buying an additional 516 shares during the period. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 14.9% in the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 3,147 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $630,000 after purchasing an additional 408 shares during the period. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of CME Group in the third quarter valued at $298,000. CX Institutional boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 590.1% in the third quarter. CX Institutional now owns 14,810 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,965,000 after purchasing an additional 12,664 shares during the period. Finally, Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new position in shares of CME Group in the third quarter valued at $462,000. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About CME Group

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.