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

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) had its price target upped by equities researchers at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $237.00 to $260.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a "market perform" rating on the financial services provider's stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods' price objective would indicate a potential upside of 9.00% from the stock's current price.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the company. Citigroup lifted their target price on CME Group from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays lifted their price objective on CME Group from $231.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and issued a $235.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of CME Group from $177.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on shares of CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 11th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $229.33.

CME Group Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of CME stock traded up $1.71 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $238.53. The company had a trading volume of 3,172,049 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,976,343. The company has a market capitalization of $85.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.41 and a beta of 0.56. 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 has a twelve month low of $190.70 and a twelve month high of $249.02. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $230.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $214.91.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.65 by $0.03. CME Group had a net margin of 57.34% and a return on equity of 13.39%. The company had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.25 earnings per share. CME Group's revenue for the quarter was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that CME Group will post 10.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, December 5th that authorizes the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other CME Group news, insider Sunil Cutinho sold 4,500 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the insider now owns 27,053 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,131,291.92. The trade was a 14.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.92, for a total value of $89,168.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 7,274 shares of company stock valued at $1,648,071. Insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CME Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CME. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in CME Group by 70.4% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,427,107 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $544,157,000 after purchasing an additional 1,003,119 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 11.3% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,283,196 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,038,676,000 after buying an additional 537,758 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in CME Group by 21,465.5% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 485,871 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,072,070,000 after buying an additional 483,618 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in CME Group by 17.8% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,514,040 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $554,707,000 after buying an additional 380,071 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baillie Gifford & Co. acquired a new position in CME Group during the third quarter worth about $79,692,000. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.