Zacks Research Has Positive Outlook of CME Group Q1 Earnings

CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) – Research analysts at Zacks Research lifted their Q1 2026 EPS estimates for shares of CME Group in a research note issued on Tuesday, January 7th. Zacks Research analyst T. De now expects that the financial services provider will post earnings of $2.88 per share for the quarter, up from their prior estimate of $2.75. The consensus estimate for CME Group’s current full-year earnings is $10.22 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for CME Group’s Q3 2026 earnings at $2.35 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $2.93 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $10.74 EPS.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.65 by $0.03. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.39% and a net margin of 57.34%. The business had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.25 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis.

CME has been the subject of a number of other research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of CME Group from $195.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on CME Group from $210.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, TD Cowen began coverage on CME Group in a report on Thursday, September 26th. They set a “hold” rating and a $221.00 price objective on the stock. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $229.53.

CME Group Trading Down 0.0 %

CME stock opened at $229.20 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. CME Group has a 1-year low of $190.70 and a 1-year high of $249.02. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $232.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $218.54. The company has a market capitalization of $82.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.10, a PEG ratio of 5.41 and a beta of 0.56.

Institutional Trading of CME Group

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of CME Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Dunhill Financial LLC boosted its position in CME Group by 188.4% during the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 124 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC grew its stake in CME Group by 120.3% in the fourth quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 152 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd bought a new position in CME Group in the second quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 62.2% during the third quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 193 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other news, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 400 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.92, for a total transaction of $89,168.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 25,067 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,587,935.64. The trade was a 1.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Timothy S. Bitsberger sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.96, for a total value of $226,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,589 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,403,279.44. This trade represents a 8.63 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 7,274 shares of company stock worth $1,648,071. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be paid a dividend of $5.80 per share. This is a boost from CME Group’s previous dividend of $2.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 27th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.37%.

CME Group declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, December 5th that permits the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

CME Group Company 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.