Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd Purchases Shares of 797,040 CME Group Inc. $CME

Key Points

• Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd bought 797,040 shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter, worth about $217.7 million, making CME its 19th-largest holding and about 1.5% of its portfolio.
• CME Group reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $3.36 beating estimates and revenue of $1.88 billion topping forecasts; revenue rose 14.5% year over year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.30 per share, equal to an annualized yield of 1.8%, even as insiders recently sold shares and analysts kept a Moderate Buy consensus.

Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd purchased a new stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 797,040 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $217,656,000. CME Group comprises about 1.5% of Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd's portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest position. Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd owned 0.22% of CME Group at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Buckhead Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in CME Group by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Buckhead Capital Management LLC now owns 3,527 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $963,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at $413,000. MQS Management LLC acquired a new position in CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at $363,000. Lloyd Advisory Services LLC. acquired a new position in CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at $131,000. Finally, Markel Group Inc. raised its holdings in CME Group by 43.0% in the 4th quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 45,750 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $12,493,000 after acquiring an additional 13,750 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CME Group Trading Up 0.7%

CME stock opened at $291.23 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $105.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.85, a PEG ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 0.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $296.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $289.12. CME Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $257.17 and a 52 week high of $329.16.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) 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 business had revenue of $1.88 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.77 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 15.42% and a net margin of 63.19%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.80 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 12.28 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 9th will be issued 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 Transactions at CME Group

In other news, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 35,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.51, for a total transaction of $10,447,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 55,630 shares in the company, valued at $16,606,111.30. This represents a 38.62% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus sold 3,291 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $333.37, for a total value of $1,097,120.67. Following the sale, the general counsel owned 7,192 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,397,597.04. The trade was a 31.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 48,244 shares of company stock valued at $14,598,037. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded CME Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Sunday, April 26th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on CME Group from $313.00 to $329.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on CME Group from $342.00 to $322.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on CME Group from $266.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Argus restated a "hold" rating on shares of CME Group in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $305.29.

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.

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