PFG Advisors Raises Position in CME Group Inc. $CME

PFG Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 310.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 3,685 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,787 shares during the period. PFG Advisors’ holdings in CME Group were worth $1,006,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Truist Financial Corp raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 8.9% during the third quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 70,712 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $19,106,000 after purchasing an additional 5,773 shares during the period. Alley Investment Management Company LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 86.0% in the 3rd quarter. Alley Investment Management Company LLC now owns 29,223 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,896,000 after buying an additional 13,512 shares during the period. Elevate Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 85.2% in the 3rd quarter. Elevate Capital Advisors LLC now owns 8,519 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,302,000 after buying an additional 3,919 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in shares of CME Group by 345.2% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 237,898 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $64,965,000 after buying an additional 184,459 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of CME Group by 78.8% during the 3rd quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 13,281 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,588,000 after buying an additional 5,855 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In other news, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.90, for a total value of $91,770.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 24,999 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,647,194.10. This represents a 1.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus sold 3,291 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $333.37, for a total transaction of $1,097,120.67. Following the transaction, the general counsel owned 7,192 shares in the company, valued at $2,397,597.04. This represents a 31.39% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 8,539 shares of company stock worth $2,713,821 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on CME. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of CME Group from $313.00 to $329.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Raymond James Financial increased their price target on CME Group from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on CME Group from $356.00 to $349.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 9th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $310.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on CME Group from $275.00 to $267.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $306.35.

Key Headlines Impacting CME Group

Here are the key news stories impacting CME Group this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Company posted record Q1 revenue and volumes — revenue roughly $1.9B, operating income about $1.3B and average daily contracts up ~22% year/year, showing strong demand for hedging and trading products. CME Group Inc. Reports Record Revenue, Adjusted Operating Income, Adjusted Net Income and Adjusted Earnings Per Share for Q1 2026
• Positive Sentiment: TD Cowen trimmed its price target to $323 but kept a Buy rating, signaling continued analyst confidence in upside over the medium term. TD Cowen adjusts price target on CME to $323 from $340; maintains Buy rating
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley lowered its target slightly to $353 but kept an Overweight rating, implying meaningful upside remains according to that shop. Morgan Stanley trims price target on CME Group to $353 from $362; keeps Overweight rating
• Neutral Sentiment: Q1 results are mixed versus consensus: management reported record revenue and volume, but EPS and some revenue figures were close to or slightly off certain Street estimates — creating ambiguity on whether the beat is durable. CME Group Inc (CME) Q1 2026 Earnings Call Highlights: Record-Breaking Volume and Revenue Surge
• Neutral Sentiment: Market commentary highlights that rising market risk is driving demand for hedging products — a structural tailwind for CME’s volumes, but investors are focused on sustainability of elevated activity. Increasing market risk is the new normal on Wall Street, and CME is loving it
• Negative Sentiment: Goldman Sachs cut its price target to $267 and kept a Sell rating, signaling downside risk and adding downward pressure on sentiment. Goldman Sachs adjusts price target on CME Group to $267 from $275; maintains Sell rating
• Negative Sentiment: Stocks sold off intra‑day despite record operational metrics — several pieces flagged a “double miss” vs some expectations and noted the share reaction was negative. CME stock under pressure after double miss
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst/commentary pieces also warned the stock still looks expensive on some multiples, which can cap upside despite strong volume trends. CME Group Q1 Earnings Show Strength, But The Stock Still Looks Expensive

CME Group Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of CME Group stock opened at $285.47 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.03. CME Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $257.17 and a 1-year high of $329.16. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $304.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $285.91. The company has a market capitalization of $102.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.36, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.26.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.11 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $1.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.77 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 15.42% and a net margin of 63.19%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.80 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 12.37 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 10th were given a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 10th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. This is a boost from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. CME Group’s payout ratio is currently 46.59%.

CME Group Profile

CME Group Inc is a global markets company that operates some of the world’s largest and most liquid derivatives exchanges, including the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) and COMEX. The firm offers futures and options contracts across a broad range of asset classes — including interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, energy, agricultural commodities and metals — and serves a diverse client base of institutional investors, commercial hedgers, brokers and retail participants.

The company’s core services include electronic trading on the CME Globex platform, central clearing through CME Clearing, and distribution of market data, indexes and analytics.