CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) Given New $269.00 Price Target at Royal Bank of Canada

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) had its target price boosted by equities researchers at Royal Bank of Canada from $235.00 to $269.00 in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “sector perform” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 7.59% from the stock’s previous close.

CME has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup downgraded CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on shares of CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $257.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, CME Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $234.07.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CME traded up $1.05 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $250.01. The company had a trading volume of 687,555 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,844,445. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market cap of $90.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.29, a PEG ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.57. CME Group has a 12 month low of $190.70 and a 12 month high of $253.53. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $235.74 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $225.08.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.46 by $0.06. CME Group had a net margin of 57.34% and a return on equity of 13.39%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that CME Group will post 10.18 earnings per share for the current year.

CME Group declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, December 5th that permits the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to purchase up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CME Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CME. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in CME Group in the fourth quarter worth about $1,107,389,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in CME Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $871,063,000. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 70.4% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,427,107 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $544,157,000 after purchasing an additional 1,003,119 shares during the last quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC boosted its stake 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 worth $565,671,000 after acquiring an additional 996,498 shares during the period. Finally, Egerton Capital UK LLP bought a new stake in CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at $223,967,000. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

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.