Benjamin Edwards Inc. Purchases 104 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 5.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,138 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $420,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in CME. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 33,451,194 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,044,821,000 after buying an additional 215,044 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its stake in CME Group by 24.1% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 15,809,175 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,403,557,000 after purchasing an additional 3,069,806 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in CME Group by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 14,589,867 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,072,654,000 after purchasing an additional 1,172,575 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of CME Group by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 6,793,988 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,462,678,000 after purchasing an additional 189,842 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parnassus Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 5,667,384 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,193,551,000 after purchasing an additional 23,583 shares during the period. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In other CME Group news, CFO Lynne Fitzpatrick sold 754 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Sunday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.99, for a total value of $163,610.46. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 13,261 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,877,504.39. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CFO Lynne Fitzpatrick sold 754 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Sunday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.99, for a total transaction of $163,610.46. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 13,261 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,877,504.39. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Bryan T. Durkin sold 7,593 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.59, for a total value of $1,629,381.87. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 55,607 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,932,706.13. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME Group stock opened at $213.16 on Friday. CME Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $190.70 and a twelve month high of $223.80. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The stock has a market cap of $76.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.25, a P/E/G ratio of 8.85 and a beta of 0.55. The company’s fifty day moving average is $207.86 and its 200 day moving average is $207.53.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.53 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.53 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 12.82% and a net margin of 56.98%. The business’s revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.30 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 9.94 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Investors of record on Monday, September 9th will be issued a $1.15 dividend. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 9th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.33%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on CME shares. Bank of America cut CME Group from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their price target for the company from $212.00 to $177.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Barclays increased their target price on CME Group from $208.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of CME Group from $193.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $187.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, CME Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $209.73.

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.