CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Shares Acquired by Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.

Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. boosted its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 179.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,864 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,197 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $393,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 31.5% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,858,967 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $972,863,000 after acquiring an additional 1,163,103 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 1.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,029,771 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $806,841,000 after purchasing an additional 70,588 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 4.9% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,668,138 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $734,435,000 after purchasing an additional 172,264 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,579,057 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $716,604,000 after buying an additional 125,263 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 6.7% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,465,422 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $693,847,000 after buying an additional 217,101 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of CME Group stock opened at $211.84 on Thursday. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $175.73 and a 52 week 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 stock 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 company’s 50-day moving average price is $213.64 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $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. CME Group had a net margin of 56.84% and a return on equity of 12.45%. The company had revenue of $1.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.48 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.42 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 9.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 29th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $14,226,934.05. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Argus increased their price target on CME Group from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $198.00 to $206.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “sell” rating and issued a $187.00 target price (up previously from $185.00) on shares of CME Group in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Bank of America lifted their price target on CME Group from $209.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on CME Group from $222.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $217.80.

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.