Zacks Research Forecasts Increased Earnings for CME Group

CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) – Investment analysts at Zacks Research upped their FY2025 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of CME Group in a report released on Thursday, April 10th. Zacks Research analyst T. De now forecasts that the financial services provider will post earnings of $10.50 per share for the year, up from their prior forecast of $10.40. The consensus estimate for CME Group’s current full-year earnings is $10.49 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for CME Group’s FY2026 earnings at $10.98 EPS and FY2027 earnings at $11.67 EPS.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.46 by $0.06. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.62% and a net margin of 57.52%.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of CME Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $269.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on CME Group from $275.00 to $283.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Raymond James raised CME Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $287.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, March 10th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, CME Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $247.47.

CME Group Price Performance

NASDAQ CME opened at $261.54 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $255.22 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $239.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $94.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.05, a P/E/G ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. CME Group has a 12-month low of $190.70 and a 12-month high of $273.42.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.91%. CME Group’s payout ratio is 51.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at CME Group

In related news, Director Howard J. Siegel sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total transaction of $2,600,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 21,873 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,686,980. This trade represents a 31.37 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.83, for a total value of $385,245.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 8,036 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,063,885.88. This represents a 15.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 27,076 shares of company stock worth $6,871,496 in the last ninety days. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of CME Group

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Radnor Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 32.9% during the 1st quarter. Radnor Capital Management LLC now owns 1,415 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $375,000 after acquiring an additional 350 shares in the last quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in CME Group by 3.0% during the first quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,379 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $366,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in CME Group by 4.3% in the first quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 18,729 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,969,000 after purchasing an additional 777 shares in the last quarter. Generali Investments Management Co LLC increased its stake in CME Group by 48.4% in the first quarter. Generali Investments Management Co LLC now owns 7,242 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,921,000 after purchasing an additional 2,361 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Chesley Taft & Associates LLC raised its holdings in CME Group by 18.3% during the first quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC now owns 1,701 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $451,000 after purchasing an additional 263 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.