Equities Analysts Issue Forecasts for CME Group Q1 Earnings

CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) – Analysts at Zacks Research upped their Q1 2026 earnings estimates for CME Group in a report released on Tuesday, January 7th. Zacks Research analyst T. De now expects that the financial services provider will earn $2.88 per share for the quarter, up from their prior forecast 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.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on CME. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on CME Group from $195.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on CME Group from $237.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $235.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a report on Monday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 11th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, CME Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $229.53.

CME Group Trading Up 1.0 %

NASDAQ:CME opened at $229.30 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $232.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $218.22. CME Group has a 52 week low of $190.70 and a 52 week high of $249.02. The company has a market capitalization of $82.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.11, a P/E/G ratio of 5.41 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.65 by $0.03. CME Group had a net margin of 57.34% and a return on equity of 13.39%. The business had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.25 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CME Group

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of CME. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its stake in CME Group by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 7,810 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,723,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the period. CVA Family Office LLC increased its position in shares of CME Group by 11.8% in the third quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 436 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $96,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the period. Zions Bancorporation N.A. increased its position in shares of CME Group by 3.7% in the third quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 1,530 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $338,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. Quent Capital LLC boosted its stake in CME Group by 10.2% in the third quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 593 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $131,000 after buying an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Grove Bank & Trust boosted its stake in CME Group by 1.3% in the third quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 4,276 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $943,000 after buying an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In related news, insider Timothy Francis Mccourt sold 1,374 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.12, for a total transaction of $312,062.88. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,275 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,652,298. This represents a 15.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.92, for a total value of $89,168.00. Following the sale, the director now directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 7,274 shares of company stock worth $1,648,071. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

CME Group announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, December 5th that permits the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

CME Group Increases Dividend

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

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.