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

CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) – Equities research analysts at Zacks Research raised their Q1 2026 earnings per share estimates for shares of CME Group in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, January 7th. Zacks Research analyst T. De now expects that the financial services provider will post earnings per share of $2.88 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 issued its 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. The business had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.59 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.39% and a net margin of 57.34%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.25 EPS.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Bank of America increased their target price on CME Group from $177.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of CME Group from $231.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $245.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Citigroup lowered shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a report on Monday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $229.53.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CME opened at $229.30 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $82.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.11, a PEG ratio of 5.41 and a beta of 0.56. 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 moving average of $232.44 and a 200-day moving average of $218.30.

Institutional Trading of CME Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CME. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in CME Group by 70.4% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,427,107 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $544,157,000 after buying an additional 1,003,119 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of CME Group by 11.3% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,283,196 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,038,676,000 after acquiring an additional 537,758 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in CME Group by 21,465.5% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 485,871 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,072,070,000 after purchasing an additional 483,618 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in CME Group by 17.8% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,514,040 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $554,707,000 after purchasing an additional 380,071 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baillie Gifford & Co. acquired a new stake in CME Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $79,692,000. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Timothy Francis Mccourt sold 1,374 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.12, for a total value of $312,062.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 7,275 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,652,298. This represents a 15.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Timothy S. Bitsberger sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.96, for a total transaction of $226,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 10,589 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,403,279.44. This represents a 8.63 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 7,274 shares of company stock valued at $1,648,071 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, December 5th that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to buy up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th will be paid a dividend of $5.80 per share. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous dividend of $2.50. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 27th. CME Group’s dividend 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.