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

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) had its price target upped by stock analysts at Oppenheimer from $258.00 to $269.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “outperform” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Oppenheimer’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 9.58% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on CME. Barclays lifted their price objective on CME Group from $257.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. 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 note on Thursday, October 17th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on CME Group from $235.00 to $269.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their target price on CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock 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.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $234.13.

CME Group Price Performance

NASDAQ:CME opened at $245.48 on Thursday. CME Group has a 52 week low of $190.70 and a 52 week high of $253.53. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The company has a market capitalization of $88.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.81, a P/E/G ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.57. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $235.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $225.25.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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%. Equities analysts expect that CME Group will post 10.18 EPS for the current year.

CME Group announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, December 5th that allows the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 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 approximately $5,453,085.45. The trade was a 34.63 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of CME Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 50.0% in the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 129 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 7,810 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,723,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 1,769 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $411,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 8.4% in the 4th quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 592 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $137,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Waldron Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,362 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $549,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during 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.