Morgan Stanley Raises CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) Price Target to $225.00

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) had its price objective increased by Morgan Stanley from $222.00 to $225.00 in a research report released on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the financial services provider's stock.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on CME. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a market perform rating and issued a $229.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of CME Group from $225.00 to $226.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Monday. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a sell rating and issued a $180.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a hold rating and issued a $210.00 target price (down previously from $235.00) on shares of CME Group in a research note on Friday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of CME Group from a neutral rating to a sell rating and set a $195.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, CME Group has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $216.18.

CME Group Trading Down 1.4 %

CME stock traded down $2.97 on Tuesday, hitting $209.78. 1,634,086 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,777,613. The stock has a market capitalization of $75.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.79 and a beta of 0.49. The business's fifty day moving average is $213.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is $211.28. CME Group has a twelve month low of $175.73 and a twelve month high of $223.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The financial services provider reported $2.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.43 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 57.83% and a return on equity of 12.32%. CME Group's revenue for the quarter was up 19.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.92 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that CME Group will post 9.6 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a dividend of $1.15 per share. This is an increase from CME Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.10. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.19%. CME Group's payout ratio is 51.86%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $959,260,000. Capital Wealth Planning LLC acquired a new position in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $253,563,000. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 14,589,867 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,072,654,000 after buying an additional 1,172,575 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 31.5% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,858,967 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $972,863,000 after buying an additional 1,163,103 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 40.9% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,615,243 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $761,371,000 after buying an additional 1,048,511 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.