Barclays Issues Positive Forecast for CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) Stock Price

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) had its target price boosted by equities researchers at Barclays from $257.00 to $263.00 in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Barclays‘s price target suggests a potential upside of 5.64% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on CME. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of CME Group from $245.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on CME Group from $210.00 to $233.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on CME Group from $260.00 to $256.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their target price on CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Four research 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $229.67.

CME Group Trading Up 3.0 %

CME opened at $248.96 on Thursday. CME Group has a one year low of $190.70 and a one year high of $253.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $235.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $225.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $89.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.18, a PEG ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.57.

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

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Creative Planning raised its holdings in CME Group by 9.3% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 51,255 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,309,000 after acquiring an additional 4,354 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB boosted its stake in CME Group by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 71,050 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $15,677,000 after purchasing an additional 542 shares during the last quarter. Walter Public Investments Inc. bought a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 3rd quarter worth $662,000. Good Life Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of CME Group in the third quarter worth $469,000. Finally, Inlet Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 13.8% during the third quarter. Inlet Private Wealth LLC now owns 32,786 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,234,000 after purchasing an additional 3,970 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is 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.