Bank of America Increases CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) Price Target to $180.00

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) had its target price upped by Bank of America from $177.00 to $180.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “underperform” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Bank of America‘s price target points to a potential downside of 19.80% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on CME. TD Cowen began coverage on CME Group in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $221.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada assumed coverage on shares of CME Group in a research report on Friday, September 27th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $235.00 price target on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $193.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $208.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of CME Group from $187.00 to $191.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $213.77.

CME Group Price Performance

CME stock opened at $224.43 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $212.17 and its 200-day moving average price is $207.75. CME Group has a one year low of $190.70 and a one year high of $226.78. The company has a market capitalization of $80.81 billion, a PE ratio of 25.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.74 and a beta of 0.55.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.53 by $0.03. CME Group had a net margin of 56.98% and a return on equity of 12.82%. The company had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.53 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.30 EPS. CME Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that CME Group will post 9.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Lynne Fitzpatrick sold 754 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Sunday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.99, for a total value of $163,610.46. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 13,261 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,877,504.39. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Lynne Fitzpatrick sold 754 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Sunday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.99, for a total value of $163,610.46. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 13,261 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,877,504.39. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 7,593 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.59, for a total value of $1,629,381.87. Following the transaction, the director now owns 55,607 shares in the company, valued at $11,932,706.13. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of CME Group

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CME. LifePlan Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $420,000. Johnson & White Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in CME Group by 9.3% in the third quarter. Johnson & White Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,053 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $674,000 after buying an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank raised its stake in CME Group by 6.9% in the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 73,355 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $16,186,000 after buying an additional 4,742 shares in the last quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division lifted its holdings in CME Group by 7.9% during the third quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 1,305 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $288,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the period. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV boosted its position in CME Group by 62.4% during the 3rd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 17,216 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,799,000 after acquiring an additional 6,616 shares in the last quarter. 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.