Royal Bank of Canada Issues Positive Forecast for CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) Stock Price

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) had its price target increased by Royal Bank of Canada from $235.00 to $269.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “sector perform” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 9.58% from the company’s current price.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on CME. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Barclays raised their price objective on CME Group from $257.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on CME Group from $245.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on CME Group from $260.00 to $256.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price objective on CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Four investment 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. According to MarketBeat, CME Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $234.13.

CME Group Price Performance

NASDAQ:CME opened at $245.48 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $235.82 and its 200 day moving average price is $225.25. The firm has a market cap of $88.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.81, a PEG 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 quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.46 by $0.06. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.39% and a net margin of 57.34%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that CME Group will post 10.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other CME Group news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total value of $2,888,378.64. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 21,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,453,085.45. The trade was a 34.63 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CME. Creative Planning increased its position in CME Group by 9.3% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 51,255 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,309,000 after buying an additional 4,354 shares during the period. Swedbank AB increased its position in shares of CME Group by 0.8% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 71,050 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $15,677,000 after purchasing an additional 542 shares during the period. Walter Public Investments Inc. bought a new stake in shares of CME Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $662,000. Good Life Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of CME Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $469,000. Finally, Inlet Private Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of CME Group by 13.8% during the third quarter. Inlet Private Wealth LLC now owns 32,786 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,234,000 after purchasing an additional 3,970 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.