Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. Acquires 1,197 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. boosted its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 179.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,864 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,197 shares during the quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $393,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in CME Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC grew its stake in shares of CME Group by 966.7% during the 4th quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 160 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares during the period. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in CME Group in the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. Atticus Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in CME Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, GoalVest Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in CME Group by 1,233.3% during the fourth quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 200 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on CME. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $210.00 price target (down previously from $235.00) on shares of CME Group in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Barclays increased their target price on CME Group from $226.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on CME Group from $222.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Argus increased their price objective on CME Group from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on CME Group from $209.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $217.80.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other news, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.91, for a total transaction of $8,436,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 67,455 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,226,934.05. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME opened at $211.84 on Thursday. CME Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $175.73 and a 12-month high of $223.80. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The company has a market cap of $76.26 billion, a PE ratio of 24.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.19 and a beta of 0.48. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $213.64 and a 200-day moving average price of $211.42.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.44 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $1.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.48 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 56.84% and a return on equity of 12.45%. CME Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.42 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 9.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.