Jefferies Financial Group Raises CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) Price Target to $356.00

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) had its target price upped by Jefferies Financial Group from $302.00 to $356.00 in a report issued on Monday,MarketScreener reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s price target suggests a potential upside of 9.35% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on CME. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $319.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Barclays boosted their price objective on CME Group from $304.00 to $312.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on CME Group from $264.00 to $266.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $296.00 to $313.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn raised their price target on shares of CME Group from $300.00 to $333.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Nine equities 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $302.71.

CME Group Price Performance

NASDAQ:CME opened at $325.55 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $117.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.05, a P/E/G ratio of 3.74 and a beta of 0.27. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. CME Group has a 52 week low of $248.53 and a 52 week high of $323.79. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $287.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $275.99.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.77 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.75 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.64 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 62.45% and a return on equity of 14.65%. CME Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.52 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that CME Group will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In related news, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.90, for a total transaction of $91,770.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 24,999 shares in the company, valued at $7,647,194.10. This trade represents a 1.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director William R. Shepard acquired 251 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 30th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $278.37 per share, with a total value of $69,870.87. Following the purchase, the director owned 258,710 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $72,017,102.70. The trade was a 0.10% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 30,248 shares of company stock worth $8,355,450. 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 purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group in the second quarter valued at about $1,571,447,000. Sanders Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of CME Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,006,932,000. Strive Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of CME Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $636,487,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in CME Group by 746.4% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,049,649 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $559,720,000 after buying an additional 1,807,491 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd purchased a new stake in CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $217,656,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Company Profile

CME Group Inc is a global markets company that operates some of the world’s largest and most liquid derivatives exchanges, including the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) and COMEX. The firm offers futures and options contracts across a broad range of asset classes — including interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, energy, agricultural commodities and metals — and serves a diverse client base of institutional investors, commercial hedgers, brokers and retail participants.

The company’s core services include electronic trading on the CME Globex platform, central clearing through CME Clearing, and distribution of market data, indexes and analytics.