Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) Stock

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) had its price target lifted by equities research analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $237.00 to $260.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “market perform” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ target price suggests a potential upside of 9.00% from the stock’s previous close.

CME has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $235.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays boosted their price target on CME Group from $231.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Citigroup raised their price objective on CME Group from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on CME Group from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, TD Cowen started coverage on shares of CME Group in a report on Thursday, September 26th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $221.00 price target on the stock. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, CME Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $229.33.

CME Group Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of CME Group stock opened at $238.53 on Friday. CME Group has a fifty-two week low of $190.70 and a fifty-two week high of $249.02. The business’s fifty day moving average is $230.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $214.98. 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 firm has a market cap of $85.96 billion, a PE ratio of 25.08, a P/E/G ratio of 5.41 and a beta of 0.56.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.65 by $0.03. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.39% and a net margin of 57.34%. The firm had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.25 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that CME Group will post 10.22 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other news, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.92, for a total value of $89,168.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 25,067 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,587,935.64. The trade was a 1.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Sunil Cutinho sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.64, for a total transaction of $1,019,880.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 27,053 shares in the company, valued at $6,131,291.92. The trade was a 14.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 7,274 shares of company stock worth $1,648,071 in the last 90 days. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of CME Group

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 58.4% in the 3rd quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 613,828 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $135,441,000 after buying an additional 226,306 shares during the period. Magnetar Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 149.4% during the second quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC now owns 23,759 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,671,000 after purchasing an additional 14,234 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in shares of CME Group by 18.3% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,826,501 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $403,017,000 after purchasing an additional 283,171 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 39.7% in the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 204,238 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $45,065,000 after purchasing an additional 58,037 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can boosted its position in CME Group by 41.8% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,028,090 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $224,432,000 after purchasing an additional 303,169 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.