CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) Given "Outperform" Rating at Raymond James Financial

Key Points

• Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating on CME Group and set a $320 price target, implying about 35% upside from the stock’s current level.
• CME Group beat quarterly earnings and revenue expectations, reporting EPS of $3.36 on revenue of $1.88 billion, with revenue up 14.5% year over year.
• The stock rose 2.3% to $236.20, while insider activity was mixed: CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold shares, and director William R. Shepard bought shares.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "outperform" rating restated by analysts at Raymond James Financial in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $320.00 price objective on the financial services provider's stock. Raymond James Financial's target price points to a potential upside of 35.48% from the company's current price.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on CME Group from $362.00 to $353.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised CME Group from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $305.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on CME Group from $342.00 to $322.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Wall Street Zen raised CME Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, June 13th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on CME Group from $343.00 to $316.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $300.94.

CME Group Stock Up 2.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:CME traded up $5.20 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $236.20. The stock had a trading volume of 2,227,118 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,740,268. CME Group has a 12 month low of $218.31 and a 12 month high of $329.16. 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 business's 50-day simple moving average is $269.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $284.88. The company has a market cap of $85.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.14, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.21.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.11 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.77 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 63.19% and a return on equity of 15.42%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.80 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that CME Group will post 12.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In other CME Group news, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 35,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.51, for a total value of $10,447,850.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 55,630 shares of the company's stock, valued at $16,606,111.30. This represents a 38.62% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director William R. Shepard bought 325 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 25th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $230.57 per share, with a total value of $74,935.25. Following the transaction, the director owned 260,442 shares of the company's stock, valued at $60,050,111.94. This trade represents a 0.12% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CME Group

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CME. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,523,241,000. Sanders Capital LLC bought a new stake in CME Group during the third quarter worth $1,006,932,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in CME Group by 746.4% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,049,649 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $559,720,000 after purchasing an additional 1,807,491 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 39.1% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 4,019,944 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,187,290,000 after purchasing an additional 1,130,587 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at $217,656,000. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company's stock.

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.

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