CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) Price Target Lowered to $298.00 at Barclays

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) had its price target decreased by analysts at Barclays from $299.00 to $298.00 in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an "equal weight" rating on the financial services provider's stock. Barclays's price target points to a potential upside of 7.38% from the stock's current price.

CME has been the topic of a number of other reports. Oppenheimer raised their price target on CME Group from $282.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Bank of America raised 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on CME Group from $223.00 to $211.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Erste Group Bank cut CME Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $305.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a research note on Thursday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $261.73.

CME Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ CME traded up $1.03 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $277.51. The company had a trading volume of 936,676 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,376,391. CME Group has a fifty-two week low of $193.25 and a fifty-two 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $276.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $261.54. The firm has a market cap of $100.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.79 and a beta of 0.44.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.91 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.68 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 14.03% and a net margin of 57.71%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.56 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that CME Group will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In related news, Director William R. Shepard purchased 256 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 25th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $270.53 per share, with a total value of $69,255.68. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 258,196 shares in the company, valued at $69,849,763.88. This represents a 0.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus sold 390 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $277.50, for a total value of $108,225.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel directly owned 6,708 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,861,470. This represents a 5.49% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 11,400 shares of company stock worth $3,152,410 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wayfinding Financial LLC acquired a new position in CME Group in the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Webster Bank N. A. grew its stake in CME Group by 206.9% in the second quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 89 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC grew its stake in CME Group by 122.2% in the first quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 100 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the period. Highline Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in CME Group by 84.3% in the second quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 94 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC grew its stake in CME Group by 50.0% in the fourth quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 129 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CME Group Company Profile

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.

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