CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Morgan Stanley Analyst Says

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) had its target price hoisted by Morgan Stanley from $256.00 to $263.00 in a research report report published on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the financial services provider's stock.

CME has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on CME Group from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup lowered CME Group from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price objective on CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $236.13.

CME Group Trading Up 0.2 %

CME traded up $0.56 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $248.88. The company had a trading volume of 1,742,606 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,782,341. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $236.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $227.00. The company has a market cap of $89.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.74, a PEG ratio of 6.83 and a beta of 0.57. CME Group has a 12-month low of $190.70 and a 12-month high of $253.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.01.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.46 by $0.06. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.62% and a net margin of 57.52%. Equities research analysts anticipate that CME Group will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $1.25 dividend. This is an increase from CME Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. CME Group's payout ratio is currently 47.57%.

CME Group declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, December 5th that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total transaction of $2,888,378.64. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 21,885 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,453,085.45. The trade was a 34.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of CME Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CME. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new stake in CME Group in the third quarter valued at $26,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. grew its position in CME Group by 570.6% in the fourth quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the period. Dunhill Financial LLC grew its position in 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 acquiring an additional 81 shares during the period. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC grew its position in 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 acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Life Planners bought a new stake in CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. 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.