Piper Sandler Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) Stock

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) had its price objective boosted by equities research analysts at Piper Sandler from $283.00 to $296.00 in a research note issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an "overweight" rating on the financial services provider's stock. Piper Sandler's price target would suggest a potential upside of 6.54% from the company's previous close.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of CME Group from $301.00 to $304.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of CME Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of CME Group from $223.00 to $211.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of CME Group from $282.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of CME Group from $265.00 to $273.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, CME Group currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $261.80.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of CME Group stock traded up $0.29 on Tuesday, hitting $277.82. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,018,887 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,178,595. CME Group has a 52-week low of $193.25 and a 52-week high of $290.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $276.08 and a 200-day moving average price of $260.36. The company has a market capitalization of $100.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.86 and a beta of 0.44.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.61 by $0.19. CME Group had a net margin of 57.71% and a return on equity of 14.03%. The company had revenue of $1.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.56 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.50 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that CME Group will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other CME Group news, Director Dennis Suskind sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.28, for a total transaction of $271,280.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 2,915 shares in the company, valued at approximately $790,781.20. This trade represents a 25.54% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Larry G. Gerdes sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.10, for a total value of $528,200.00. Following the sale, the director owned 38,651 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,207,729.10. The trade was a 4.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 13,400 shares of company stock worth $3,680,610 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CME. Norges Bank bought a new position in CME Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,107,389,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in CME Group by 89.9% in the 4th 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 period. GQG Partners LLC increased its position in CME Group by 7,676.3% in the 1st quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 2,205,041 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $584,975,000 after buying an additional 2,176,685 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in CME Group by 370.5% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,653,957 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $704,068,000 after buying an additional 2,089,935 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in CME Group by 32,941.0% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,858,887 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $493,144,000 after buying an additional 1,853,261 shares during the period. 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.