CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) Price Target Raised to $356.00

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) had its price objective hoisted by Jefferies Financial Group from $302.00 to $356.00 in a report released on Monday morning,MarketScreener reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on CME. Rothschild & Co Redburn upped their price objective on CME Group from $300.00 to $333.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Raymond James Financial reduced their price objective on shares of CME Group from $311.00 to $310.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of CME Group from $201.00 to $209.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of CME Group from $312.00 to $316.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on CME Group from $295.00 to $302.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $302.71.

CME Group Stock Down 1.6%

CME stock opened at $320.00 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $290.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $277.01. The company has a market capitalization of $115.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.78 and a beta of 0.24. CME Group has a 52 week low of $248.53 and a 52 week high of $329.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.75 by $0.02. CME Group had a net margin of 62.45% and a return on equity of 14.65%. The business had revenue of $1.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.64 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.52 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that CME Group will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be given a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 10th. CME Group’s payout ratio is currently 44.80%.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In related news, Director William R. Shepard acquired 251 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 30th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $278.37 per share, with a total value of $69,870.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 258,710 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $72,017,102.70. This trade represents a 0.10% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.90, for a total transaction of $91,770.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 24,999 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,647,194.10. The trade was a 1.19% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 30,248 shares of company stock valued at $8,355,450 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CME Group

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CME. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of CME Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,571,447,000. Sanders Capital LLC bought a new position in CME Group during the third quarter valued at about $1,006,932,000. Strive Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group in the third quarter worth about $636,487,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 746.4% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,049,649 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $559,720,000 after acquiring an additional 1,807,491 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd acquired a new position in shares of CME Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $217,656,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting CME Group

Here are the key news stories impacting CME Group this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Jefferies raised its price target to $356, backing upside as volumes and margins remain healthy. Jefferies Boosts Price Target
• Positive Sentiment: CME reported record monthly average daily volume (ADV) of 37.6M contracts in February (up 14% YoY) and new open interest/ADV records in its Dairy franchise — positive for fee revenue and long-term growth. Monthly ADV Record Dairy OI Record
• Positive Sentiment: Crypto tailwinds — technical signals for Bitcoin and an unfilled CME futures gap could lift crypto derivatives volumes, which helps CME’s products mix. Bitcoin Signals
• Neutral Sentiment: Argus reaffirmed a “hold” rating — not a downgrade but not strongly bullish either. Argus Hold Reaffirmed
• Neutral Sentiment: Short-interest data in early March appears inconsistent/erroneous (reported as 0 shares / NaN increases) and is not providing a clear signal. (Data noise — treat with caution.)
• Neutral Sentiment: Macro note: CME FedWatch signals show a higher probability the Fed will pause, which can reduce interest-rate-driven trading volatility (mixed impact on volumes). Fed More Likely To Stay Pat
• Negative Sentiment: CME rebuffed traders seeking compensation after a trading outage that affected settlement — a reputational and legal risk that could spook some clients and lead to vendor/trader friction. CME Rebuffs Traders
• Negative Sentiment: After the analyst upgrade and a new 1?year high, near-term profit-taking and rotation have likely pushed the share price down despite the positive fundamental flow data (typical short-term market reaction).

About CME Group

CME Group Inc is a global markets company that operates some of the world’s largest and most liquid derivatives exchanges, including the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) and COMEX. The firm offers futures and options contracts across a broad range of asset classes — including interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, energy, agricultural commodities and metals — and serves a diverse client base of institutional investors, commercial hedgers, brokers and retail participants.

The company’s core services include electronic trading on the CME Globex platform, central clearing through CME Clearing, and distribution of market data, indexes and analytics.