What is Zacks Research's Estimate for CME Group Q1 Earnings?

CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) - Equities research analysts at Zacks Research raised their Q1 2026 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for CME Group in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, January 7th. Zacks Research analyst T. De now anticipates that the financial services provider will post earnings of $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.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on CME Group from $237.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on CME Group from $195.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Oppenheimer upped their target price on CME Group from $245.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday. 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $229.53.

CME Group Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of CME Group stock traded up $2.29 during trading on Thursday, hitting $229.30. The stock had a trading volume of 2,002,451 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,053,110. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The company has a market capitalization of $82.63 billion, a PE ratio of 24.11, a P/E/G ratio of 5.41 and a beta of 0.56. CME Group has a 1 year low of $190.70 and a 1 year high of $249.02. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $232.44 and a 200 day simple moving average of $218.30.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.65 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 57.34% and a return on equity of 13.39%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.25 EPS.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be issued a dividend of $5.80 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 27th. This is an increase from CME Group's previous dividend of $2.50. CME Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.37%.

CME Group declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan 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 purchase up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 400 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 25,067 shares in the company, valued at $5,587,935.64. This represents a 1.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Timothy S. Bitsberger sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.96, for a total transaction of $226,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 10,589 shares in the company, valued at $2,403,279.44. This represents a 8.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 7,274 shares of company stock valued at $1,648,071 over the last 90 days. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CME Group

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 58.4% in the third quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 613,828 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $135,441,000 after acquiring an additional 226,306 shares during the last quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 149.4% in the second quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC now owns 23,759 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $4,671,000 after buying an additional 14,234 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in CME Group by 18.3% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,826,501 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $403,017,000 after buying an additional 283,171 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can grew its holdings in CME Group by 41.8% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,028,090 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $224,432,000 after acquiring an additional 303,169 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in CME Group by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,284,745 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,823,964,000 after acquiring an additional 142,692 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company's stock.

About CME Group

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.