CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co Has $121.04 Million Holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

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

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. lifted its stake in CME Group by 570.6% during the fourth quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC grew its position in CME Group by 50.0% in the fourth quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 129 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Financial Life Planners acquired a new position in CME Group during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Knuff & Co LLC bought a new position in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 120.3% in the 4th quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 152 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other CME Group news, Director Howard J. Siegel sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total value of $2,600,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 21,873 shares in the company, valued at $5,686,980. This trade represents a 31.37 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.83, for a total value of $385,245.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 8,036 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,063,885.88. This represents a 15.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 27,076 shares of company stock valued at $6,871,496. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

CME Group Stock Down 0.6 %

CME stock opened at $261.39 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $94.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.03, a P/E/G ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.43. CME Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $190.70 and a 1-year high of $273.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $256.36 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $239.87.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.46 by $0.06. CME Group had a net margin of 57.52% and a return on equity of 13.62%. Analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current 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%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.71%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Barclays raised their target price on shares of CME Group from $263.00 to $279.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of CME Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $301.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $269.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Erste Group Bank raised CME Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $247.47.

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.