CME Group’s (CME) “Market Perform” Rating Reaffirmed at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME)‘s stock had its “market perform” rating reiterated by analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $226.00 price objective on the financial services provider’s stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ target price suggests a potential upside of 15.25% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on CME. Argus upped their price objective on CME Group from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $222.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of CME Group from $209.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $210.00 target price (down from $235.00) on shares of CME Group in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of CME Group from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $206.00 to $187.00 in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, CME Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $215.90.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CME traded down $0.98 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $196.10. 874,830 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,916,365. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $204.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $208.41. The firm has a market cap of $70.61 billion, a PE ratio of 22.32, a PEG ratio of 5.18 and a beta of 0.52. CME Group has a 52 week low of $180.11 and a 52 week high of $223.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by $0.06. CME Group had a net margin of 56.84% and a return on equity of 12.45%. The business had revenue of $1.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.48 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.42 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that CME Group will post 9.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.91, for a total value of $8,436,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 67,455 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,226,934.05. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.91, for a total transaction of $8,436,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 67,455 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,226,934.05. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Charles P. Carey sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.44, for a total value of $586,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 7,163 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,399,936.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 54,290 shares of company stock valued at $11,393,700 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CME. Second Half Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of CME Group during the fourth quarter valued at $2,737,000. Naples Global Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Naples Global Advisors LLC now owns 2,072 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $436,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the period. Sapient Capital LLC purchased a new position in CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,823,000. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 2.3% during the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 1,041,526 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $224,230,000 after buying an additional 23,340 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bluefin Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,891,000. Institutional investors 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.