CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Shares Sold by Federated Hermes Inc.

Federated Hermes Inc. lessened its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 4.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 25,379 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 1,287 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc.'s holdings in CME Group were worth $5,894,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in CME Group by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,243,090 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $7,952,273,000 after purchasing an additional 326,623 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,389,442 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,946,717,000 after purchasing an additional 104,697 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,107,389,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $871,063,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 31.5% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,416,361 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $793,382,000 after buying an additional 819,158 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider now owns 21,885 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,453,085.45. The trade was a 34.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.83, for a total transaction of $385,245.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 8,036 shares of the company's stock, 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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 27,076 shares of company stock worth $6,871,496. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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CME Group Trading Up 0.9 %

NASDAQ:CME traded up $2.25 on Thursday, reaching $263.64. 451,723 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,136,500. CME Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $190.70 and a 1-year high of $273.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The company's 50 day moving average is $256.36 and its 200-day moving average is $239.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $95.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.43.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.46 by $0.06. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.62% and a net margin of 57.52%. Equities research analysts anticipate that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from CME Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. CME Group's dividend payout ratio is 51.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CME has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of CME Group from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley upgraded CME Group from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $301.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of CME Group from $275.00 to $283.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Raymond James upgraded shares of CME Group from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $287.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Citigroup downgraded shares of CME Group from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $247.47.

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.