Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC Acquires 5,855 Shares of CME Group Inc. $CME

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 78.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,281 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,855 shares during the quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $3,588,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CME. Jessup Wealth Management Inc increased its stake in CME Group by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Jessup Wealth Management Inc now owns 7,969 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,197,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 0.7% in the second quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 5,269 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,453,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the period. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC increased its position in shares of CME Group by 2.7% during the second quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 1,422 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $392,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 0.8% during the second quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 5,021 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,384,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. Finally, Atlatl Advisers LLC raised its holdings in shares of CME Group by 1.8% during the third quarter. Atlatl Advisers LLC now owns 2,126 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $574,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Price Performance

CME stock opened at $297.38 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $276.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $272.84. CME Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $239.70 and a 12-month high of $302.20. The firm has a market cap of $107.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.65, a PEG ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.27.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.77 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.75 by $0.02. CME Group had a return on equity of 14.65% and a net margin of 62.45%.The business had revenue of $1.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.64 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.52 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CME has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $262.00 to $266.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Piper Sandler increased their price target on CME Group from $296.00 to $313.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. Rothschild & Co Redburn boosted their price objective on CME Group from $297.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 6th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of CME Group from $305.00 to $328.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of CME Group in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $295.82.

CME Group News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 results and record annual figures: CME posted Q4 EPS of $2.77 and revenue of ~$1.65B, with record 2025 annual revenue of $6.5B and all-time-high average daily volume in Q4 — fundamental beat that supports revenue resilience and margin strength. CME Group Q4 Earnings and Revenues Top Estimates, ADV Rises Y/Y
• Positive Sentiment: Management guidance and strategy: Management said fee adjustments could lift revenue ~1%–1.5% and reiterated plans to expand 24/7 crypto and securities clearing — a structural growth lever if adoption ramps. CME targets 1%-1.5% revenue lift; expanding 24/7 crypto
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley maintains Buy: A Wall Street analyst reiterated a Buy / Overweight view citing CME’s resilient fee-based franchise and underappreciated structural growth, supporting medium‑term upside. Morgan Stanley maintains Buy
• Neutral Sentiment: RBC raises price target modestly to $302 (sector perform): a small lift in analyst valuation but not a clear catalyst given the modest upside. RBC raises PT to $302
• Neutral Sentiment: Raymond James trims price target slightly to $310 but keeps Outperform — minimal change to the investment thesis. Raymond James adjusts PT to $310
• Neutral Sentiment: CEO says firm is exploring a proprietary token and tokenized cash pilots (with Google) to enable faster collateral movement and potential 24/7 trading — strategically important but execution, regulatory and adoption risks leave near-term impact uncertain. CME exploring issuing token
• Negative Sentiment: JPMorgan keeps an Underweight rating and has a $266 target (below current levels), signaling downside risk if volumes or product adoption slow relative to expectations. JPMorgan maintains Underweight, PT $266
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst caution / valuation note: a Seeking Alpha piece argues quality doesn’t automatically justify a buy today — a reminder that valuation and long-term growth execution should be assessed before adding exposure. CME Group: Quality Shines Through, But It Doesn’t Mean To Buy

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director William R. Shepard acquired 251 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 30th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $278.37 per share, with a total value of $69,870.87. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 258,710 shares in the company, valued at approximately $72,017,102.70. This trade represents a 0.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $269.55, for a total transaction of $6,738,750.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 65,804 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,737,468.20. This trade represents a 27.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.