CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) Stock Price Expected to Rise, TD Cowen Analyst Says

Key Points

• TD Cowen has raised CME Group's price target from $281 to $288, indicating an expected upside of 8.51% from its previous close.
• Citigroup upgraded CME Group's rating from "neutral" to "buy," increasing its target price to $300, as multiple analysts show varied outlooks for the stock.
• CME Group reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $2.96 for the last quarter, surpassing estimates and reflecting a 10.4% year-over-year revenue increase.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) had its price objective lifted by equities research analysts at TD Cowen from $281.00 to $288.00 in a research note issued on Wednesday,MarketScreener reports. The brokerage presently has a "hold" rating on the financial services provider's stock. TD Cowen's price target suggests a potential upside of 8.51% from the company's previous close.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Citigroup upgraded CME Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $275.00 to $300.00 in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Wall Street Zen cut CME Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Sunday, July 13th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of CME Group in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group lowered their price target on CME Group from $305.00 to $285.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on CME Group from $303.00 to $312.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, CME Group has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $279.23.

CME Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CME traded up $0.47 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $265.41. 170,704 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,248,914. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $269.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $271.06. CME Group has a 52 week low of $213.94 and a 52 week high of $290.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $95.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.68, a P/E/G ratio of 5.56 and a beta of 0.41.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.91 by $0.05. CME Group had a return on equity of 14.60% and a net margin of 58.48%.The business had revenue of $1.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.68 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.56 EPS. The business's revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that CME Group will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director William R. Shepard bought 262 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 25th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $265.19 per share, for a total transaction of $69,479.78. Following the acquisition, the director owned 258,459 shares in the company, valued at approximately $68,540,742.21. This trade represents a 0.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Sunil Cutinho sold 11,896 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.47, for a total value of $3,229,407.12. Following the transaction, the insider owned 17,440 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,734,436.80. This trade represents a 40.55% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 13,043 shares of company stock worth $3,527,956. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of CME Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wayfinding Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group in the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Webster Bank N. A. grew its holdings in CME Group by 206.9% during the second quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 89 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC grew its holdings in CME Group by 122.2% during the first quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 100 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. Highline Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 84.3% during the second quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 94 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 612.5% during the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company's stock.

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.

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