Lee Johnson Capital Management LLC Takes Position in CME Group Inc. $CME

Lee Johnson Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 8,406 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,271,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CME. Calamos Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 166.3% in the 3rd quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,189 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $591,000 after acquiring an additional 1,367 shares in the last quarter. Sax Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 3.3% during the third quarter. Sax Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,429 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $656,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Smith Salley Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Smith Salley Wealth Management now owns 8,348 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,256,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co boosted its holdings in CME Group by 126.9% in the third quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 5,878 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,588,000 after acquiring an additional 3,288 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oak Harvest Investment Services grew its stake in shares of CME Group by 2.9% in the third quarter. Oak Harvest Investment Services now owns 26,460 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,149,000 after acquiring an additional 758 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on shares of CME Group from $282.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on CME Group from $310.00 to $318.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on CME Group from $288.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on CME Group from $252.00 to $256.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of CME Group in a research report on Monday. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, CME Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $290.82.

CME Group Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of NASDAQ:CME opened at $275.83 on Wednesday. CME Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $224.62 and a 52-week high of $290.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $99.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.73, a PEG ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 0.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $273.50 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $272.00.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.63 by $0.05. CME Group had a net margin of 58.84% and a return on equity of 14.61%. The company had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.56 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.68 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 12th were given a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 12th. CME Group’s payout ratio is presently 48.45%.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In other CME Group news, Director Harold Eugene Jr. Ford sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $263.53, for a total transaction of $263,530.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 1,091 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $287,511.23. This trade represents a 47.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $269.55, for a total value of $6,738,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 65,804 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,737,468.20. This trade represents a 27.53% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

More CME Group News

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

• Positive Sentiment: CME is called out as a potential beneficiary if bitcoin stages a comeback — analysts highlight CME among a handful of stocks that could gain from renewed crypto ETF and futures flows, which would support trading volumes and fee revenue. Crypto Comeback in 2026? 4 Stocks to Ride the Bitcoin Rally
• Neutral Sentiment: Street consensus remains mixed—brokerages recently assigned an average “Hold” rating to CME, indicating limited near‑term upside from analyst revisions alone. CME Group Inc. Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages
• Neutral Sentiment: General investing commentary (year‑end dividend/sector roundups) mentions broader exchange and dividend themes but is unlikely to drive intraday moves in CME shares. My New Year’s Resolution For 2026: Invest $10,000 In These 5 Stocks
• Negative Sentiment: CME’s decision to raise margin requirements on precious‑metals contracts triggered a sharp liquidation in silver and other metals — the move reduced short‑term trading activity and drew public criticism from bullion market participants, weighing on CME’s metals franchise and today’s sentiment. Silver plunges over 10% to $72 after CME raises margin requirements
• Negative Sentiment: Live market coverage shows the margin hike prompted large intraday swings across global metals markets (COMEX, MCX) and pressured related trading volumes — a direct operational impact for an exchange that earns fees on futures activity. Surging silver and gold slide after CME raises margin requirements
• Negative Sentiment: Competitive pressure in crypto derivatives: Binance has overtaken CME in bitcoin futures open interest amid institutional repositioning, which could limit CME’s share gains from any crypto rally and pressure fee growth. Binance Tops CME in Bitcoin Futures Open Interest Amid Institutional Selloffs

CME Group Company 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.