Lifeworks Advisors LLC Decreases Stock Position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Lifeworks Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 44.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,343 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,064 shares during the period. Lifeworks Advisors LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $312,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 4.4% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 419,532 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $92,570,000 after buying an additional 17,508 shares during the period. Consolidated Planning Corp acquired a new position in CME Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $207,000. Portside Wealth Group LLC increased its position in shares of CME Group by 55.2% in the 3rd quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 3,848 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $849,000 after purchasing an additional 1,368 shares during the last quarter. Verity Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $341,000. Finally, Summit Global Investments lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 62.0% during the 3rd quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 2,057 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $454,000 after purchasing an additional 787 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on CME shares. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on CME Group from $235.00 to $269.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on CME Group from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Citigroup downgraded CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $255.00 to $250.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $257.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $235.50.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 21,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,453,085.45. The trade was a 34.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.83, for a total transaction of $385,245.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 8,036 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,063,885.88. This trade represents a 15.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 17,076 shares of company stock worth $4,271,496 over the last 90 days. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

CME Group Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of CME Group stock opened at $254.57 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.01. The company has a market capitalization of $91.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.33, a PEG ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.53. CME Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $190.70 and a 1 year high of $258.78. The company’s fifty day moving average is $240.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $230.70.

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

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.96%. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. CME Group’s payout ratio is presently 51.71%.

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

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.