Barclays Increases CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) Price Target to $263.00

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) had its price objective raised by Barclays from $257.00 to $263.00 in a report published on Thursday,Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an equal weight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

CME has been the subject of several other research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $235.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Citigroup lowered shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on CME Group from $245.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on CME Group from $260.00 to $256.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, CME Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $234.07.

CME Group Stock Up 0.5 %

NASDAQ:CME opened at $250.11 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $235.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $225.08. The company has a market cap of $90.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.30, a P/E/G ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.57. CME Group has a 52-week low of $190.70 and a 52-week high of $253.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.46 by $0.06. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.39% and a net margin of 57.34%. On average, analysts anticipate that CME Group will post 10.18 EPS for the current year.

CME Group announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, December 5th that authorizes the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.00%. CME Group’s payout ratio is currently 48.37%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,243,090 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,952,273,000 after buying an additional 326,623 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of CME Group by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,389,442 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,946,717,000 after acquiring an additional 104,697 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in CME Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,107,389,000. FIL Ltd increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 4,081,391 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $947,821,000 after acquiring an additional 61,908 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at $871,063,000. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

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.