CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) Price Target Raised to $340.00

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) had its price target boosted by TD Cowen from $328.00 to $340.00 in a research note released on Thursday, Marketbeat.com reports. TD Cowen currently has a buy rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on CME. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on CME Group from $262.00 to $266.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on CME Group from $266.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, March 16th. Argus restated a “hold” rating on shares of CME Group in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Erste Group Bank upgraded CME Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Raymond James Financial boosted their target price on CME Group from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $309.18.

CME Group Price Performance

CME stock opened at $295.30 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $105.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.26. The business’s 50-day moving average is $306.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $284.56. CME Group has a 1 year low of $251.90 and a 1 year high of $329.16.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.77 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.75 by $0.02. CME Group had a return on equity of 14.65% and a net margin of 62.45%.The business had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.64 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.52 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that CME Group will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th were issued a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 10th. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus sold 3,291 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $333.37, for a total value of $1,097,120.67. Following the transaction, the general counsel owned 7,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,397,597.04. The trade was a 31.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.90, for a total value of $91,770.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 24,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,647,194.10. The trade was a 1.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 8,539 shares of company stock worth $2,713,821. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of CME Group

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Purpose Unlimited Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 16.5% in the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 156,976 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $42,867,000 after buying an additional 22,286 shares in the last quarter. Osbon Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $46,000. World Investment Advisors boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 38,985 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,646,000 after buying an additional 1,324 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Winthrop Partners WNY LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,280,000. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

More CME Group News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley raised its price target to $362 and reiterated an “overweight” view, signaling materially higher analyst conviction on CME’s revenue mix and cash returns. Morgan Stanley raise
• Positive Sentiment: TD Cowen raised its target to $340 and kept a “buy” rating — another upside-biased revision supporting upside expectations. TD Cowen upgrade
• Positive Sentiment: CME confirmed it will launch SUI futures in early May, expanding its crypto derivatives product set and opening a new institutional revenue stream. Product expansion is a tangible growth catalyst. SUI futures launch
• Neutral Sentiment: Jefferies trimmed its price target to $349 from $356 but maintained a “buy” rating — a modest downgrade that still implies upside, so impact is mixed. Jefferies PT cut
• Neutral Sentiment: Keefe, Bruyette & Woods began coverage of CME — fresh analyst attention can help liquidity and visibility but the near-term directional effect depends on published views. KBW begins coverage
• Neutral Sentiment: Short-interest data is mixed: reported short interest fell 15.6% in late March to ~4.7M shares (about 1.3% of float, ~2.3 days to cover), which reduces immediate bearish pressure; however, an April 10 reporting entry shows an anomalous “0 shares/NaN” figure, creating data uncertainty for traders. (Internal short-interest reports)
• Negative Sentiment: The White House issued an ethics warning after large, time-sensitive trading in oil futures and gains in prediction markets tied to geopolitical events. That has raised political and regulatory scrutiny of trading venues and prediction/derivatives markets — an elevated oversight risk that could lead to tighter rules or reputational scrutiny for exchanges like CME. White House ethics warning

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.