Empowered Funds LLC Buys 1,987 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 28.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,990 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,987 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $2,088,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its position in CME Group by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 7,810 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,723,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. Waldron Private Wealth LLC raised its position in CME Group by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,362 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $549,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the period. First Affirmative Financial Network raised its position in CME Group by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network now owns 2,141 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $497,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. increased its position in shares of CME Group by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 1,439 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $334,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the period. Finally, Zions Bancorporation N.A. increased its position in shares of CME Group by 3.7% in the third quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 1,530 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $338,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

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

CME Group Trading Down 1.9 %

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

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 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%. As a group, analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, December 5th that permits the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.04%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.71%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on CME shares. Barclays boosted 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Citigroup cut shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted 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 report on Thursday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $234.13.

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.