CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) Reaches New 1-Year High – Should You Buy?

CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) hit a new 52-week high on Monday . The stock traded as high as $264.20 and last traded at $263.08, with a volume of 424240 shares. The stock had previously closed at $258.68.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CME has been the topic of several research reports. Raymond James upgraded CME Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $287.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, March 10th. Citigroup downgraded CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on CME Group from $256.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Barclays increased their target price on CME Group from $257.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $238.93.

CME Group Price Performance

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 stock has a market cap of $96.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.56, a PEG ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.53. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $244.35 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $233.28.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly 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%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. CME Group’s payout ratio is presently 51.71%.

CME Group announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, December 5th that permits the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other news, Director Howard J. Siegel sold 10,000 shares of the business’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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 21,873 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,686,980. The trade was a 31.37 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.83, for a total value of $385,245.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 8,036 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,063,885.88. This trade represents a 15.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 27,076 shares of company stock worth $6,871,496. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CME Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CME. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 9.6% in the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 7,003 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,545,000 after buying an additional 612 shares during the period. GLOBALT Investments LLC GA raised its holdings in CME Group by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. GLOBALT Investments LLC GA now owns 5,925 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,307,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC raised its holdings in CME Group by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 6,080 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,342,000 after purchasing an additional 559 shares during the period. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new position in CME Group in the 3rd quarter worth about $5,569,000. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in CME Group by 17.3% in the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 152,789 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $33,713,000 after purchasing an additional 22,570 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.