CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Shares Purchased by Empire Life Investments Inc.

Empire Life Investments Inc. lifted its holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 5.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 84,337 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,271 shares during the period. Empire Life Investments Inc.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $19,586,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in CME. PineStone Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in CME Group by 10.6% during the 4th quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,665,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $386,826,000 after purchasing an additional 159,718 shares in the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG boosted its stake in CME Group by 29.0% during the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 86,941 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $20,190,000 after acquiring an additional 19,533 shares during the last quarter. Pictet North America Advisors SA boosted its stake in CME Group by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Pictet North America Advisors SA now owns 16,521 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,837,000 after acquiring an additional 293 shares during the last quarter. Banque Pictet & Cie SA boosted its stake in CME Group by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Banque Pictet & Cie SA now owns 67,125 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $15,588,000 after acquiring an additional 1,998 shares during the last quarter. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its stake in CME Group by 10.4% during the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 2,861 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $664,000 after acquiring an additional 269 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME opened at $245.48 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $235.82 and its 200-day moving average is $225.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $88.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.81, a P/E/G ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. CME Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $190.70 and a 12-month high of $253.53.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 57.34% and a return on equity of 13.39%. Equities research analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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 dividend of $1.25 per share. This is a boost from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.37%.

CME Group declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, December 5th that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $235.00 to $269.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Citigroup downgraded shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $257.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, CME Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $234.13.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In other CME Group news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total transaction of $2,888,378.64. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 21,885 shares in the company, valued at $5,453,085.45. This trade represents a 34.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.