CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Stake Boosted by CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co

CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co raised its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 521,568 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 7,531 shares during the quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co owned 0.14% of CME Group worth $121,036,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 108.7% in the fourth quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 12,390 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,949,000 after buying an additional 6,453 shares during the period. Meyer Handelman Co. acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $6,144,000. Unified Investment Management bought a new stake in CME Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $503,000. Spire Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 37.4% during the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 1,320 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $307,000 after purchasing an additional 359 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 19.3% during the 4th quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc now owns 326,098 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $75,730,000 after purchasing an additional 52,862 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 3,984 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.47, for a total transaction of $997,872.48. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 27,046 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,774,211.62. The trade was a 12.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total value of $2,888,378.64. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 21,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,453,085.45. This represents a 34.63 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 27,076 shares of company stock valued at $6,871,496 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CME has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays raised their target price on CME Group from $263.00 to $279.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 7th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of CME Group from $275.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Citigroup lowered shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Raymond James upgraded CME Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $287.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $247.47.

CME Group Trading Down 0.6 %

CME stock opened at $261.39 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $256.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $239.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $94.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.03, a P/E/G ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.43. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $190.70 and a fifty-two week high of $273.42.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.46 by $0.06. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.62% and a net margin of 57.52%. Analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.91%. This is a boost from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.71%.

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.