CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) Price Target Raised to $263.00 at Barclays

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) had its target price lifted by equities researchers at Barclays from $257.00 to $263.00 in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “equal weight” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Barclays‘s price objective indicates a potential upside of 7.14% from the company’s previous close.

CME has been the topic of several other reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price 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. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $235.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $260.00 to $256.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $245.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Citigroup cut shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $234.13.

CME Group Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of CME opened at $245.48 on Thursday. CME Group has a 12 month low of $190.70 and a 12 month high of $253.53. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $235.82 and its 200-day moving average is $225.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $88.46 billion, a PE ratio of 25.81, a P/E/G ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.46 by $0.06. CME Group had a net margin of 57.34% and a return on equity of 13.39%. Equities research analysts forecast that CME Group will post 10.18 EPS for the current year.

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

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total transaction of $2,888,378.64. Following the transaction, the insider now 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CME Group

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 570.6% during the fourth quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the period. Truvestments Capital LLC acquired a new position in CME Group in the third quarter valued at $26,000. Dunhill Financial LLC lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 81 shares during the period. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 43 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Life Planners acquired a new position in CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

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.