Oppenheimer Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) Stock

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) had its price target hoisted by Oppenheimer from $258.00 to $269.00 in a report published on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an outperform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other research firms also recently commented on CME. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price 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 reduced their price target on shares of CME Group from $260.00 to $256.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $235.00 to $269.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on CME Group from $257.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $234.07.

CME Group Trading Up 0.5 %

CME opened at $250.11 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $235.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $225.08. CME Group has a one year low of $190.70 and a one year high of $253.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $90.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.30, a PEG ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.46 by $0.06. CME Group had a net margin of 57.34% and a return on equity of 13.39%. Analysts predict that CME Group will post 10.18 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $1.25 per share. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.00%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.37%.

CME Group announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, December 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Trading of CME Group

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,243,090 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,952,273,000 after purchasing an additional 326,623 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in CME Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,107,389,000. FIL Ltd increased its stake in CME Group by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 4,081,391 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $947,821,000 after acquiring an additional 61,908 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $871,063,000. 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.