CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) Hits New 12-Month High Following Analyst Upgrade

CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday after Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on the stock from $302.00 to $356.00. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. CME Group traded as high as $326.26 and last traded at $324.1840, with a volume of 229840 shares. The stock had previously closed at $319.50.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on CME. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $310.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on CME Group from $295.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on CME Group from $305.00 to $328.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on CME Group from $262.00 to $266.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $312.00 to $316.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $302.71.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In related news, Director Dennis Suskind sold 748 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $224,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 2,699 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $809,700. This trade represents a 21.70% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director William R. Shepard acquired 251 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 30th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $278.37 per share, with a total value of $69,870.87. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 258,710 shares in the company, valued at approximately $72,017,102.70. The trade was a 0.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 30,248 shares of company stock worth $8,355,450. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CME Group

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Caldwell Trust Co increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 116.3% during the third quarter. Caldwell Trust Co now owns 93 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Asset Dedication LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 64.9% during the fourth quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 94 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA purchased a new stake in CME Group in the third quarter valued at $27,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Elkhorn Partners Limited Partnership acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. 87.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CME Group Trading Up 1.6%

The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The company’s 50-day moving average is $287.63 and its 200 day moving average is $275.99. The company has a market cap of $117.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.74 and a beta of 0.27.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.75 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.64 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 14.65% and a net margin of 62.45%.CME Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.52 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This is a boost from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 10th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.59%.

CME Group Company Profile

CME Group Inc is a global markets company that operates some of the world’s largest and most liquid derivatives exchanges, including the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) and COMEX. The firm offers futures and options contracts across a broad range of asset classes — including interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, energy, agricultural commodities and metals — and serves a diverse client base of institutional investors, commercial hedgers, brokers and retail participants.

The company’s core services include electronic trading on the CME Globex platform, central clearing through CME Clearing, and distribution of market data, indexes and analytics.