CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) Raised to “Overweight” at Morgan Stanley

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) was upgraded by research analysts at Morgan Stanley from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a note issued to investors on Tuesday,Finviz reports. The firm presently has a $301.00 price objective on the financial services provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 19.27% from the stock’s previous close.

CME has been the subject of several other research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $269.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Citigroup lowered shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Raymond James upgraded shares of CME Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $287.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, March 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on CME Group from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on CME Group from $263.00 to $279.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $245.13.

CME Group Stock Performance

CME opened at $252.37 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The business’s 50 day moving average is $252.91 and its 200-day moving average is $237.72. The stock has a market cap of $90.94 billion, a PE ratio of 26.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.43. CME Group has a twelve month low of $190.70 and a twelve month high of $273.42.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.46 by $0.06. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.62% and a net margin of 57.52%. On average, analysts predict that CME Group will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Howard J. Siegel sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total value of $2,600,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 21,873 shares in the company, valued at $5,686,980. This represents a 31.37 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 3,984 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.47, for a total transaction of $997,872.48. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 27,046 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,774,211.62. This trade represents a 12.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 27,076 shares of company stock valued at $6,871,496. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CME. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 570.6% during the 4th quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC boosted its position in CME Group by 50.0% during the fourth quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 129 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Financial Life Planners acquired a new stake in CME Group during the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Knuff & Co LLC purchased a new position in CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its position in CME Group by 120.3% in the 4th quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 152 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. 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.