CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) Given New $213.00 Price Target at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) had its price objective hoisted by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $212.00 to $213.00 in a report issued on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a market perform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on CME. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price 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. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of CME Group from $209.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of CME Group from a neutral rating to an underweight rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $206.00 to $187.00 in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a sell rating and issued a $187.00 price target (up previously from $185.00) on shares of CME Group in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of CME Group from $208.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Thursday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $212.64.

CME Group Price Performance

NASDAQ CME opened at $199.38 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $200.12 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $206.93. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. CME Group has a 12-month low of $190.70 and a 12-month high of $223.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $71.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.68, a P/E/G ratio of 6.57 and a beta of 0.52.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.53 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.53 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 56.98% and a return on equity of 12.82%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.30 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that CME Group will post 9.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 25th. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th were given a $1.15 dividend. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 7th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Charles P. Carey sold 3,000 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.44, for a total transaction of $586,320.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 7,163 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,399,936.72. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other CME Group news, Director Daniel R. Glickman sold 650 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.44, for a total value of $130,936.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 14,008 shares in the company, valued at $2,821,771.52. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Charles P. Carey sold 3,000 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.44, for a total transaction of $586,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 7,163 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,399,936.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 54,290 shares of company stock worth $11,393,700 in the last ninety days. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of CME Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. SlateStone Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 7.8% in the second quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC now owns 6,458 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,270,000 after acquiring an additional 465 shares in the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in CME Group by 15.8% during the second quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 12,240 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,406,000 after buying an additional 1,672 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. boosted its holdings in CME Group by 5.9% during the second quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 38,530 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,575,000 after buying an additional 2,163 shares in the last quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC boosted its holdings in CME Group by 9.1% during the second quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC now owns 2,271 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $446,000 after buying an additional 189 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Shelter Ins Retirement Plan purchased a new stake in CME Group during the second quarter worth about $9,028,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

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.