Hamlin Capital Management LLC Sells 5,122 Shares of CME Group Inc. $CME

Hamlin Capital Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 531,932 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 5,122 shares during the quarter. CME Group makes up approximately 3.4% of Hamlin Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest position. Hamlin Capital Management LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $139,356,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CME. Whipplewood Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 2,075.0% in the first quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the period. First Community Trust NA bought a new position in CME Group during the third quarter worth $26,000. North Point Portfolio Managers Corp OH acquired a new position in CME Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Main Street Group LTD acquired a new stake in CME Group in the 1st quarter worth $32,000. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Elizabeth Cook sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.11, for a total transaction of $140,055.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 17,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,018,450.76. This represents a 2.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Terrence Duffy sold 15,000 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.44, for a total value of $4,116,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 40,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,150,497.20. The trade was a 26.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CME has been the topic of several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on CME Group from $267.00 to $245.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Barclays raised their target price on CME Group from $270.00 to $281.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $286.00 to $270.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $249.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $291.62.

CME Group Price Performance

CME Group stock traded up $6.55 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $276.82. 1,082,119 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,518,381. The business’s 50-day moving average is $271.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $271.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. CME Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $218.31 and a 12 month high of $329.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $99.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.54, a P/E/G ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 0.24.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.99 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.91 by $0.08. CME Group had a return on equity of 15.60% and a net margin of 63.30%.The company had revenue of $1.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.68 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.96 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 12.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 9th were paid a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 9th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.11%.

About CME Group

CME Group Inc operates global derivatives marketplaces that enable customers to manage risk and trade futures and options contracts. Its exchanges offer products linked to interest rates, equity indexes, foreign currencies, agricultural commodities, energy, metals and other asset classes.

The company also provides central counterparty clearing, settlement and related risk-management services for transactions conducted on its markets. In addition, CME Group offers market data, benchmark products and technology services that support trading, analysis and connectivity for financial institutions, businesses, professional traders and other market participants.

CME Group’s history includes the Chicago Board of Trade, founded in 1848, and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, established in 1898.