CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at Erste Group Bank

Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Raymond James Financial lowered their price target on CME Group from $311.00 to $310.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on CME Group from $296.00 to $313.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of CME Group from $319.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of CME Group from $201.00 to $209.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $305.00 to $328.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $302.71.

CME Group Stock Down 1.0%

CME stock opened at $316.81 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $114.24 billion, a PE ratio of 28.39, a P/E/G ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $291.37 and its 200 day moving average is $277.29. CME Group has a one year low of $248.53 and a one year high of $329.16.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.77 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $1.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.52 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that CME Group will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity at CME Group

In other news, Director Dennis Suskind sold 748 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $224,400.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 2,699 shares in the company, valued at $809,700. The trade was a 21.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.90, for a total transaction of $91,770.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 24,999 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,647,194.10. This represents a 1.19% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 30,248 shares of company stock valued at $8,355,450 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CME Group

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CME. Amundi boosted its holdings in CME Group by 24.0% during the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 1,987,347 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $548,150,000 after acquiring an additional 385,225 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 8.9% during the third quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 70,712 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $19,106,000 after purchasing an additional 5,773 shares in the last quarter. Alley Investment Management Company LLC boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 86.0% in the third quarter. Alley Investment Management Company LLC now owns 29,223 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,896,000 after purchasing an additional 13,512 shares during the period. Elevate Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 85.2% in the third quarter. Elevate Capital Advisors LLC now owns 8,519 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,302,000 after purchasing an additional 3,919 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 310.2% in the second quarter. Victory Financial Group LLC now owns 3,044 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $839,000 after purchasing an additional 2,302 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Trending Headlines about CME Group

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

• Positive Sentiment: Jefferies raised its price target on CME to $356, an analyst upgrade that supports a higher valuation and likely contributed to recent buying and the stock reaching a new 1?year high. Analyst upward revisions can lend momentum and justify higher multiples for CME. Jefferies Boosts CME Price Target
• Positive Sentiment: CME also hit a new one?year high following that analyst upgrade, signaling strong near?term demand and positive sentiment among investors. That price peak may have increased visibility and trading in the shares. CME Hits New 1?Year High
• Neutral Sentiment: Argus reiterated a “hold” rating on CME, a neutral endorsement that neither materially changes the sell?side narrative nor provides a clear catalyst for price movement. Argus Hold Reaffirmed
• Neutral Sentiment: Crypto market commentary points to a potential Bitcoin move toward $80k and references an unfilled CME gap; if realized, stronger crypto prices could lift CME’s crypto?futures volumes, but this outcome is uncertain and timing is unclear. Investors should view this as a possible upside to derivatives volumes rather than a guaranteed driver. Bitcoin Signals $80K Target
• Neutral Sentiment: Short?interest data published for early March shows anomalous values (reported as 0 shares and NaN increases). The figures appear erroneous or incomplete, so they should not be treated as evidence of increased bearish positioning until corrected data is released. (No reliable source link available in the entry.)

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.