CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) Price Target Increased to $226.00 by Analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) had its price objective raised by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $222.00 to $226.00 in a research report report published on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a market perform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered CME Group from a neutral rating to a sell rating and set a $195.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on CME Group from $222.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a hold rating and issued a $210.00 price target (down previously from $235.00) on shares of CME Group in a report on Friday, April 5th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a sell rating and issued a $187.00 price target (up previously from $185.00) on shares of CME Group in a report on Thursday. Finally, Argus increased their price target on CME Group from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $217.80.

CME Group Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of CME stock opened at $212.54 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $76.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.18, a PEG ratio of 5.97 and a beta of 0.49. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $214.76 and a 200-day moving average of $211.93. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. CME Group has a 1-year low of $175.73 and a 1-year high of $223.80.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.44 by $0.06. CME Group had a return on equity of 12.45% and a net margin of 56.84%. The company had revenue of $1.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.48 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.42 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that CME Group will post 9.58 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were given a dividend of $1.15 per share. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.16%. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.33%.

Institutional Trading of CME Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CME. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Gold Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in CME Group in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Northwest Financial Advisors purchased a new stake in CME Group in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC increased its position in CME Group by 966.7% in the fourth quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 160 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA purchased a new stake in CME Group in the third quarter worth $37,000. 87.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.