FY2025 EPS Estimates for CME Group Raised by Zacks Research

CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) – Equities researchers at Zacks Research raised their FY2025 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for CME Group in a note issued to investors on Thursday, April 10th. Zacks Research analyst T. De now anticipates that the financial services provider will earn $10.50 per share for the year, up from their previous estimate 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.46 by $0.06. CME Group had a net margin of 57.52% and a return on equity of 13.62%.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Barclays upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $263.00 to $279.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on CME Group from $209.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Erste Group Bank raised CME Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on CME Group from $200.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, CME Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $246.80.

CME Group Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of CME stock opened at $258.39 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The firm has a market cap of $93.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.72, a PEG ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a 50 day moving average of $254.84 and a 200-day moving average of $238.79. CME Group has a 12-month low of $190.70 and a 12-month high of $273.42.

Institutional Trading of CME Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 570.6% in the fourth quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC grew its holdings in CME Group by 50.0% in the fourth quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 129 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Financial Life Planners purchased a new stake in CME Group in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Knuff & Co LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its stake in CME Group by 120.3% during the 4th quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 152 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.94%. This is a boost from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. CME Group’s payout ratio is 51.71%.

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.