Morgan Stanley Increases CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) Price Target to $263.00

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) had its price target increased by Morgan Stanley from $256.00 to $263.00 in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 5.91% from the company’s current price.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Barclays upped their price target on CME Group from $257.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 11th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Citigroup downgraded shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, CME Group has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $236.13.

CME Group Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of CME stock opened at $248.32 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $236.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $227.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $89.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.68, a P/E/G ratio of 6.77 and a beta of 0.57. CME Group has a fifty-two week low of $190.70 and a fifty-two week high of $253.53. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.46 by $0.06. CME Group had a net margin of 57.52% and a return on equity of 13.62%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that CME Group will post 10.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, December 5th that permits the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total transaction of $2,888,378.64. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 21,885 shares in the company, valued at $5,453,085.45. This represents a 34.63 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of CME Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of CME Group in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. grew its holdings in CME Group by 570.6% during the fourth quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC raised its position in shares of CME Group by 188.4% in the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 124 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the period. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of CME Group by 50.0% in the fourth 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 period. Finally, Financial Life Planners acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.