Benedict Financial Advisors Inc. Purchases 826 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Benedict Financial Advisors Inc. grew its position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 2.9% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 28,866 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 826 shares during the period. CME Group accounts for about 1.6% of Benedict Financial Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Benedict Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $6,703,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in CME Group by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,284,745 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,823,964,000 after buying an additional 142,692 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in CME Group by 17.8% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,514,040 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $554,707,000 after acquiring an additional 380,071 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in CME Group by 70.4% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,427,107 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $544,157,000 after acquiring an additional 1,003,119 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 11.9% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 2,230,100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $492,072,000 after acquiring an additional 237,800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 1.4% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,981,961 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $437,320,000 after acquiring an additional 26,642 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CME has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of CME Group from $210.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $235.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of CME Group from $245.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $229.27.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME stock opened at $244.83 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $88.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.74, a P/E/G ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.57. CME Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $190.70 and a 12-month high of $249.02. The business’s 50 day moving average is $235.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $223.95. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. CME Group’s payout ratio is presently 48.37%.

CME Group announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, December 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.