CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) Hits New 52-Week High – Time to Buy?

CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) reached a new 52-week high on Thursday . The company traded as high as $291.76 and last traded at $289.8820, with a volume of 349785 shares. The stock had previously closed at $286.05.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on CME Group from $256.00 to $262.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on CME Group from $296.00 to $313.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on CME Group from $283.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, October 13th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $280.00 to $304.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, December 12th. Finally, Raymond James Financial boosted their target price on shares of CME Group from $307.00 to $311.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, CME Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $292.18.

CME Group Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $274.64 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $272.15. The firm has a market cap of $104.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.18, a P/E/G ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.27.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 12th were paid a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 12th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.45%.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In other news, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $269.55, for a total value of $6,738,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 65,804 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,737,468.20. The trade was a 27.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Harold Eugene Jr. Ford sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $263.53, for a total value of $263,530.00. Following the sale, the director owned 1,091 shares in the company, valued at approximately $287,511.23. The trade was a 47.82% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CME Group

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,895,583 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,802,366,000 after acquiring an additional 588,509 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in CME Group by 3.6% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,178,681 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,524,271,000 after purchasing an additional 319,899 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in CME Group in the second quarter worth $1,571,447,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in CME Group by 2.8% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,812,914 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,300,450,000 after purchasing an additional 130,848 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 6.6% during the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,833,090 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,056,476,000 after purchasing an additional 238,522 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CME Group Company Profile

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.