CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) Price Target Raised to $283.00

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) had its price target hoisted by equities research analysts at Barclays from $279.00 to $283.00 in a report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “equal weight” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Barclays‘s price objective suggests a potential upside of 7.49% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on CME. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of CME Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Bank of America increased their price target on CME Group from $200.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on CME Group from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup downgraded shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $255.00 to $250.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of CME Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $301.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $248.93.

CME Group Trading Up 0.7 %

NASDAQ:CME opened at $263.27 on Wednesday. CME Group has a 52 week low of $190.70 and a 52 week high of $273.42. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $258.41 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $241.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.01. The firm has a market cap of $94.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.43.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.61 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $1.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.56 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.62% and a net margin of 57.52%. On average, equities analysts expect that CME Group will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other CME Group news, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.83, for a total value of $385,245.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 8,036 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,063,885.88. The trade was a 15.73 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total transaction of $2,888,378.64. Following the sale, the insider now owns 21,885 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,453,085.45. This trade represents a 34.63 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 27,076 shares of company stock worth $6,871,496. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CME Group

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. lifted its stake in CME Group by 570.6% in the fourth quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the period. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 50.0% during the fourth quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 129 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of CME Group by 612.5% in the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Financial Life Planners bought a new position in CME Group in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Alpine Bank Wealth Management purchased a new stake in CME Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $32,000. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by 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.