Federated Hermes Inc. Sells 10,674 Shares of CME Group Inc. $CME

Federated Hermes Inc. lowered its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 45.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 12,898 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 10,674 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in CME Group were worth $3,485,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in CME Group by 11.5% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 10,027 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,660,000 after acquiring an additional 1,037 shares in the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of CME Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $141,000. Simplicity Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of CME Group by 140.0% during the second quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 2,174 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $599,000 after purchasing an additional 1,268 shares in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of CME Group by 32.6% during the second quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 15,816 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,359,000 after purchasing an additional 3,887 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Belpointe Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of CME Group by 2.0% in the second quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 6,921 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,908,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Trading Up 0.8%

CME stock opened at $293.07 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. CME Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $238.12 and a twelve month high of $296.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $105.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.27. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $275.88 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $272.52.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th were paid a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 12th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.45%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on CME. Argus dropped their price target on CME Group from $308.00 to $295.00 in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Raymond James Financial increased their target price on CME Group from $307.00 to $311.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of CME Group from $282.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, December 5th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $280.00 to $304.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of CME Group in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $292.18.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In other news, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $269.55, for a total value of $6,738,750.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 65,804 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,737,468.20. This represents a 27.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director William R. Shepard acquired 251 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 30th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $278.37 per share, with a total value of $69,870.87. Following the acquisition, the director owned 258,710 shares in the company, valued at $72,017,102.70. This trade represents a 0.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About CME Group

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.