Benedict Financial Advisors Inc. Acquires 1,477 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Benedict Financial Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 5.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 27,702 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,477 shares during the quarter. CME Group makes up about 1.4% of Benedict Financial Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. Benedict Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $5,446,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 3,625 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $782,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its holdings in CME Group by 4.3% in the first quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 1,160 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $250,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Lantz Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of CME Group by 1.1% during the first quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 4,561 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $982,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Lester Murray Antman dba SimplyRich increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 0.7% during the second quarter. Lester Murray Antman dba SimplyRich now owns 7,667 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,507,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Greystone Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of CME Group by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Greystone Financial Group LLC now owns 3,282 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $691,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on CME. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Barclays raised their target price on CME Group from $208.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on CME Group from $193.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on CME Group from $187.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on CME Group from $212.00 to $213.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, CME Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $213.27.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In related news, Director Daniel R. Glickman sold 650 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.44, for a total value of $130,936.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 14,008 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,821,771.52. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other CME Group news, Director Daniel R. Glickman sold 650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.44, for a total transaction of $130,936.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 14,008 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,821,771.52. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Charles P. Carey sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.44, for a total value of $586,320.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 7,163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,399,936.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CME traded up $1.64 during trading on Friday, reaching $215.74. 2,021,148 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,918,714. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $201.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $207.43. The stock has a market cap of $77.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.54, a PEG ratio of 6.27 and a beta of 0.52. CME Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $190.70 and a 12-month high of $223.80. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $2.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.53 by $0.03. CME Group had a return on equity of 12.82% and a net margin of 56.98%. The business had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.53 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.30 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 9.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Investors of record on Monday, September 9th will be paid a $1.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 9th. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.13%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.33%.

CME Group 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.