CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) Sets New 52-Week High - Here's Why

CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report)'s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $283.11 and last traded at $282.56, with a volume of 1510482 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $280.45.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of CME Group from $200.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Raymond James raised shares of CME Group from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $287.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Barclays lifted their price objective on CME Group from $279.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Erste Group Bank upgraded CME Group to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price target on CME Group from $269.00 to $279.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Three equities 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's stock. According to MarketBeat, CME Group currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $256.80.

CME Group Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $101.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.45. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $262.03 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $244.22. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.61 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $1.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.56 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 57.52% and a return on equity of 13.62%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.50 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.77%. This is an increase from CME Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. CME Group's dividend payout ratio is 50.30%.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other CME Group news, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.83, for a total transaction of $385,245.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 8,036 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,063,885.88. This trade represents a 15.73 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Howard J. Siegel sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total value of $2,600,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 21,873 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,686,980. This represents a 31.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 30,076 shares of company stock worth $7,670,976. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CME Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of CME Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,107,389,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings 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 valued at $1,923,047,000 after purchasing an additional 3,921,278 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in CME Group in the fourth quarter worth $871,063,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 32,941.0% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,858,887 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $493,144,000 after buying an additional 1,853,261 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Wealth Planning LLC lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 69.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 2,435,823 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $565,671,000 after buying an additional 996,498 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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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