CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Analyst Says

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) had its price objective raised by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $256.00 to $257.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a market perform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

CME has been the subject of several other research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 11th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on CME Group from $235.00 to $269.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Citigroup downgraded CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on CME Group from $210.00 to $233.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $234.13.

CME Group Stock Performance

CME Group stock opened at $245.48 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $235.82 and its 200 day moving average price is $225.25. 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 $88.46 billion, a PE ratio of 25.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02.

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

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.71%.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total value of $2,888,378.64. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 21,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,453,085.45. The trade was a 34.63 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CME Group

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co raised its holdings in CME Group by 83.2% during the 4th quarter. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co now owns 2,950 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $685,000 after acquiring an additional 1,340 shares during the period. South Plains Financial Inc. purchased a new position in CME Group in the fourth quarter worth $93,000. BlueCrest Capital Management Ltd boosted its position in CME Group by 128.6% during the fourth quarter. BlueCrest Capital Management Ltd now owns 6,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,393,000 after buying an additional 27,000 shares during the period. Keel Point LLC boosted its position in CME Group by 12.2% during the fourth quarter. Keel Point LLC now owns 1,389 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $323,000 after buying an additional 151 shares during the period. Finally, FAS Wealth Partners Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 11,727 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,723,000 after purchasing an additional 447 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

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.