The Goldman Sachs Group Increases CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) Price Target to $263.00

Key Points

• Goldman Sachs has increased the price target for CME Group from $262.00 to $263.00, while maintaining a "sell" rating on the stock, indicating a potential downside of 2.92% from its previous close.
• Other analysts have varied opinions on CME Group, with Deutsche Bank raising its rating to "buy" and setting a price target of $300.00, while the average target price across analysts sits at $284.87.
• CME Group recently reported quarterly earnings of $2.68 EPS, slightly beating estimates, despite a 3% year-over-year revenue decline to $1.54 billion.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) had its price target upped by investment analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group from $262.00 to $263.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,MarketScreener reports. The firm currently has a "sell" rating on the financial services provider's stock. The Goldman Sachs Group's price objective indicates a potential downside of 2.92% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of CME Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $266.00 to $300.00 in a research note on Thursday. Wall Street Zen cut shares of CME Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Sunday, July 13th. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of CME Group from $288.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on CME Group from $303.00 to $312.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of CME Group in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, CME Group currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $284.87.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CME opened at $270.90 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $266.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $271.45. The stock has a market cap of $97.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.27, a PEG ratio of 6.18 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. CME Group has a 12 month low of $213.94 and a 12 month high of $290.79.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.63 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.56 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 58.48% and a return on equity of 14.60%. The firm's revenue was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.68 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that CME Group will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other news, insider Timothy Francis Mccourt sold 379 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $259.83, for a total value of $98,475.57. Following the transaction, the insider owned 9,508 shares in the company, valued at $2,470,463.64. This trade represents a 3.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Sunil Cutinho sold 11,896 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.47, for a total value of $3,229,407.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 17,440 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,734,436.80. This represents a 40.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 13,043 shares of company stock worth $3,527,956 over the last three months. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 1.3% in the third quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 17,158 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $4,636,000 after purchasing an additional 228 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 127,327 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $34,403,000 after acquiring an additional 2,167 shares during the period. Kathmere Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of CME Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $309,000. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group in the third quarter valued at about $2,007,000. Finally, Chicago Capital LLC increased its position in CME Group by 583.8% during the third quarter. Chicago Capital LLC now owns 13,327 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,601,000 after purchasing an additional 11,378 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently 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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