CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) Given New $256.00 Price Target at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) had its price target decreased by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $260.00 to $256.00 in a research note released on Monday,Benzinga reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods currently has a market perform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on CME. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on shares of CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Citigroup downgraded CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Barclays increased their target price on CME Group from $231.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Bank of America lifted their price target on CME Group from $177.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $245.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $229.27.

CME Group Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:CME opened at $229.45 on Monday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $82.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.13, a P/E/G ratio of 5.41 and a beta of 0.56. CME Group has a 52-week low of $190.70 and a 52-week high of $249.02. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $232.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $219.11.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.65 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 57.34% and a return on equity of 13.39%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.25 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that CME Group will post 10.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan 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 plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be paid a $5.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 27th. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous dividend of $2.50. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other CME Group news, insider Sunil Cutinho sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.64, for a total value of $1,019,880.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 27,053 shares in the company, valued at $6,131,291.92. The trade was a 14.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.92, for a total transaction of $89,168.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 25,067 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,587,935.64. The trade was a 1.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 7,274 shares of company stock valued at $1,648,071. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new position in CME Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Dunhill Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 188.4% in the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 124 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 120.3% in the 4th quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 152 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 62.2% during the third quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 193 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Anchor Investment Management LLC grew its stake in CME Group by 52.4% in the third quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 378 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $83,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. 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.