FY2024 EPS Estimates for CME Group Reduced by Zacks Research

CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) – Equities research analysts at Zacks Research cut their FY2024 earnings per share estimates for shares of CME Group in a report released on Tuesday, January 7th. Zacks Research analyst T. De now anticipates that the financial services provider will earn $10.18 per share for the year, down from their prior forecast of $10.21. 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 Q4 2024 earnings at $2.44 EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at $2.56 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $2.45 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $2.50 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $2.52 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $10.03 EPS and Q2 2026 earnings at $2.58 EPS.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Barclays boosted their price objective on CME Group from $231.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on CME Group from $245.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $235.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a report on Monday. Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $244.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Citigroup cut shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research note 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, CME Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $229.53.

CME Group Trading Up 1.0 %

CME Group stock opened at $229.30 on Friday. CME Group has a 52-week low of $190.70 and a 52-week high of $249.02. 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 firm 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 firm has a 50-day moving average price of $232.44 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $218.30.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.25 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis.

CME Group Increases Dividend

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

CME Group declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program 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 buy up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other news, 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 value of $226,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 10,589 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,403,279.44. This trade represents a 8.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Timothy Francis Mccourt sold 1,374 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.12, for a total value of $312,062.88. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,275 shares in the company, valued at $1,652,298. The trade was a 15.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CME Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CME. Fortitude Family Office LLC grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 120.3% during the 4th quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 152 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in CME Group during the fourth quarter valued at $203,000. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in CME Group by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 30,170 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,000,000 after purchasing an additional 1,557 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 36.2% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,626 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,307,000 after purchasing an additional 1,495 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 419,532 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $92,570,000 after purchasing an additional 17,508 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

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.