Benjamin Edwards Inc. Has $32.79 Million Stake in CME Group Inc. $CME

Key Points

• Benjamin Edwards Inc. reduced its CME Group stake by 9.5% in the second quarter, selling 15,570 shares and retaining 148,464 shares valued at $32.79 million. Institutional investors collectively own 87.75% of the company.
• CME Group beat quarterly expectations with earnings of $2.99 per share versus the $2.91 consensus, while revenue reached $1.71 billion. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $1.30, equivalent to a 1.8% annualized yield.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed, with a consensus “Hold” rating and an average price target of $288.56. Recent targets range from $230 with an “underperform” rating to $330 with an “overweight” rating.

Benjamin Edwards Inc. lowered its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 9.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 148,464 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 15,570 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc.'s holdings in CME Group were worth $32,787,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC now owns 11,523 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,147,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group raised its holdings in CME Group by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 898 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $243,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Endowment Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in CME Group by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Endowment Wealth Management Inc. now owns 895 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $244,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. NBT Bank N A NY boosted its position in CME Group by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. NBT Bank N A NY now owns 1,666 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $492,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. Finally, Resonant Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in CME Group by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,073 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $317,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

CME Group Stock Up 1.7%

Shares of NASDAQ CME opened at $285.80 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The firm has a market cap of $102.77 billion, a PE ratio of 24.24, a P/E/G ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 0.23. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $253.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $279.13. CME Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $218.31 and a 12-month high of $329.16.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.99 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.91 by $0.08. CME Group had a net margin of 63.30% and a return on equity of 15.60%. The firm had revenue of $1.71 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.68 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.96 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 12.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 9th will be given a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 9th. CME Group's payout ratio is presently 44.11%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director William R. Shepard purchased 325 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 25th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $230.57 per share, with a total value of $74,935.25. Following the purchase, the director owned 260,442 shares in the company, valued at $60,050,111.94. This represents a 0.12% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of CME Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, June 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on CME Group from $249.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Bank of America increased their price target on CME Group from $226.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on CME Group from $324.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered CME Group from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $288.56.

About CME Group

CME Group Inc is a global markets company that operates some of the world's largest and most liquid derivatives exchanges, including the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) and COMEX. The firm offers futures and options contracts across a broad range of asset classes — including interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, energy, agricultural commodities and metals — and serves a diverse client base of institutional investors, commercial hedgers, brokers and retail participants.

The company's core services include electronic trading on the CME Globex platform, central clearing through CME Clearing, and distribution of market data, indexes and analytics.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding CME? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

Continue following MarketBeat

Add MarketBeat as your preferred source on Google to see our latest stories in your feed.

Add As Preferred Source