Analysts Set CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Price Target at $247.73

Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) have been given a consensus rating of "Hold" by the sixteen research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $256.80.

A number of research firms recently commented on CME. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on CME Group from $301.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Bank of America increased their price target on CME Group from $200.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. UBS Group increased their price target on CME Group from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday. Oppenheimer increased their price target on CME Group from $269.00 to $279.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on CME Group from $223.00 to $211.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th.

CME Group Stock Up 1.7 %

NASDAQ:CME traded up $4.44 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $272.36. The stock had a trading volume of 1,770,578 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,157,960. The business's 50 day moving average is $259.60 and its 200 day moving average is $242.62. CME Group has a fifty-two week low of $190.70 and a fifty-two week high of $273.42. The stock has a market cap of $98.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.17, a PEG ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.61 by $0.19. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.62% and a net margin of 57.52%. The firm had revenue of $1.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.56 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.50 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that CME Group will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were given a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from CME Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. CME Group's dividend payout ratio is 50.30%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Larry G. Gerdes sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.10, for a total value of $528,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 38,651 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,207,729.10. This represents a 4.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total transaction of $2,888,378.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 21,885 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,453,085.45. This trade represents a 34.63 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 29,076 shares of company stock valued at $7,399,696 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of CME Group

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in CME Group by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,243,090 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $7,952,273,000 after buying an additional 326,623 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in CME Group by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,389,442 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,946,717,000 after buying an additional 104,697 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in CME Group by 89.9% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,280,785 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,923,047,000 after buying an additional 3,921,278 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in CME Group during the fourth quarter worth about $1,107,389,000. Finally, FIL Ltd grew its stake in CME Group by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 4,081,391 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $947,821,000 after buying an additional 61,908 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About CME Group

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.