Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) Stock

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) had its price objective lifted by research analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $237.00 to $260.00 in a research report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “market perform” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ price target would indicate a potential upside of 9.00% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research firms have also commented on CME. Barclays increased their target price on shares of CME Group from $231.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of CME Group from $245.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on CME Group from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on CME Group from $195.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $229.33.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME opened at $238.53 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $85.96 billion, a PE ratio of 25.08, a P/E/G ratio of 5.41 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $230.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $214.98. CME Group has a 52-week low of $190.70 and a 52-week high of $249.02.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.65 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.59 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 57.34% and a return on equity of 13.39%. The business’s revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.25 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that CME Group will post 10.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group declared that its board has approved a share repurchase 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 buy up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other news, insider Sunil Cutinho sold 4,500 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.64, for a total value of $1,019,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 27,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,131,291.92. This trade represents a 14.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Timothy Francis Mccourt sold 1,374 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.12, for a total value of $312,062.88. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,275 shares in the company, valued at $1,652,298. This trade represents a 15.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 7,274 shares of company stock worth $1,648,071. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of CME Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Truvestments Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of CME Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Dunhill Financial LLC boosted its holdings in CME Group by 188.4% during the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 124 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd acquired a new position in shares of CME Group during the 2nd quarter worth about $36,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 62.2% in the 3rd quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 193 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Finally, McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in CME Group by 66.1% in the second quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 196 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. 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.