Brokerages Set CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Target Price at $292.12

CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eighteen research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $292.1176.

A number of equities research analysts have commented on CME shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on shares of CME Group from $342.00 to $322.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $329.00 to $295.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of CME Group from $267.00 to $245.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of CME Group from $310.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn upgraded CME Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $316.00 to $323.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 11th.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME opened at $245.11 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $257.79 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $281.93. The stock has a market cap of $88.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.91, a PEG ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.25. CME Group has a 52 week low of $218.31 and a 52 week high of $329.16.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.11 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.77 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 15.42% and a net margin of 63.19%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.80 EPS. On average, analysts expect that CME Group will post 12.18 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 9th were given a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 9th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.37%.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In related news, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 35,000 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.51, for a total transaction of $10,447,850.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 55,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,606,111.30. This trade represents a 38.62% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director William R. Shepard purchased 325 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 25th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $230.57 per share, for a total transaction of $74,935.25. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 260,442 shares in the company, valued at $60,050,111.94. This represents a 0.12% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CME Group

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Asset Dedication LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 64.9% during the 4th quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 94 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 2,075.0% in the first quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Elkhorn Partners Limited Partnership purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in CME Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. 87.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About CME Group

CME Group Inc is a global markets company that operates some of the world’s largest and most liquid derivatives exchanges, including the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) and COMEX. The firm offers futures and options contracts across a broad range of asset classes — including interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, energy, agricultural commodities and metals — and serves a diverse client base of institutional investors, commercial hedgers, brokers and retail participants.

The company’s core services include electronic trading on the CME Globex platform, central clearing through CME Clearing, and distribution of market data, indexes and analytics.