797,040 Shares in CME Group Inc. $CME Bought by Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd

Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd purchased a new position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 797,040 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $217,656,000. CME Group accounts for 1.5% of Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest position.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Asset Dedication LLC boosted its position in CME Group by 64.9% during the 4th quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 94 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. FNY Investment Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in CME Group during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates boosted its position in CME Group by 1,250.0% during the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 108 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID boosted its position in CME Group by 191.9% in the 4th quarter. Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID now owns 108 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Anfield Capital Management LLC boosted its position in CME Group by 197.4% in the 4th quarter. Anfield Capital Management LLC now owns 113 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on CME. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $310.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Rothschild & Co Redburn decreased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $340.00 to $316.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods began coverage on shares of CME Group in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $305.00 price objective for the company. Argus reissued a “hold” rating on shares of CME Group in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of CME Group from $266.00 to $271.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, CME Group presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $305.29.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME Group stock opened at $291.23 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $105.53 billion, a PE ratio of 24.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 0.23. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $296.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $289.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. CME Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $257.17 and a 1 year high of $329.16.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.36 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.11 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $1.88 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.77 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 63.19% and a return on equity of 15.42%. The firm’s revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.80 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 12.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 9th will be given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 9th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus sold 3,291 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $333.37, for a total transaction of $1,097,120.67. Following the sale, the general counsel directly owned 7,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,397,597.04. This represents a 31.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 35,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.51, for a total value of $10,447,850.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 55,630 shares in the company, valued at $16,606,111.30. The trade was a 38.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 48,244 shares of company stock valued at $14,598,037 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Profile

CME Group Inc is a global markets company that operates some of the world’s largest and most liquid derivatives exchanges, including the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) and COMEX. The firm offers futures and options contracts across a broad range of asset classes — including interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, energy, agricultural commodities and metals — and serves a diverse client base of institutional investors, commercial hedgers, brokers and retail participants.

The company’s core services include electronic trading on the CME Globex platform, central clearing through CME Clearing, and distribution of market data, indexes and analytics.