Piper Sandler Boosts CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) Price Target to $240.00

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) had its price target raised by Piper Sandler from $225.00 to $240.00 in a research note published on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. Piper Sandler currently has an overweight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Redburn Atlantic lowered CME Group from a buy rating to a neutral rating and set a $244.00 target price for the company. in a report on Tuesday. Citigroup lifted their price target on CME Group from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on CME Group from $193.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a sector perform rating and set a $235.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on CME Group from $209.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Monday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, CME Group presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $217.71.

CME Group Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of CME opened at $221.25 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $213.67 and a 200 day moving average of $207.83. CME Group has a fifty-two week low of $190.70 and a fifty-two week high of $226.78. The firm has a market cap of $79.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.76 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.53 by $0.03. CME Group had a return on equity of 12.82% and a net margin of 56.98%. The company had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.53 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.30 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that CME Group will post 10.04 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 9th were paid a dividend of $1.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 9th. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.08%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.72%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Lynne Fitzpatrick sold 754 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Sunday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.99, for a total transaction of $163,610.46. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 13,261 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,877,504.39. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Lynne Fitzpatrick sold 754 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Sunday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.99, for a total value of $163,610.46. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 13,261 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,877,504.39. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 7,593 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.59, for a total value of $1,629,381.87. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 55,607 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,932,706.13. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CME Group

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 244,361 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $51,458,000 after purchasing an additional 7,506 shares in the last quarter. State of Tennessee Treasury Department lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 8.9% during the fourth quarter. State of Tennessee Treasury Department now owns 112,191 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $23,627,000 after purchasing an additional 9,208 shares in the last quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 49.6% during the fourth quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 98,463 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $20,736,000 after purchasing an additional 32,660 shares in the last quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of CME Group during the fourth quarter valued at $685,000. Finally, BOKF NA lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. BOKF NA now owns 31,695 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,675,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is 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.