Wedbush Brokers Lift Earnings Estimates for Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG)

Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG) – Stock analysts at Wedbush lifted their Q3 2024 EPS estimates for Chipotle Mexican Grill in a note issued to investors on Thursday, April 25th. Wedbush analyst N. Setyan now forecasts that the restaurant operator will earn $13.81 per share for the quarter, up from their prior estimate of $13.61. Wedbush has a “Neutral” rating and a $3,200.00 price objective on the stock. The consensus estimate for Chipotle Mexican Grill’s current full-year earnings is $55.08 per share. Wedbush also issued estimates for Chipotle Mexican Grill’s FY2024 earnings at $56.08 EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at $15.74 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $17.25 EPS and Q4 2025 earnings at $16.98 EPS.

CMG has been the subject of a number of other reports. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill from $2,400.00 to $2,850.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill from $3,250.00 to $3,500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. KeyCorp increased their target price on Chipotle Mexican Grill from $3,250.00 to $3,400.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Argus boosted their price target on Chipotle Mexican Grill from $3,265.00 to $3,366.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Chipotle Mexican Grill from $2,986.00 to $3,100.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $3,137.12.

Chipotle Mexican Grill Trading Up 2.4 %

Chipotle Mexican Grill stock opened at $3,186.97 on Monday. Chipotle Mexican Grill has a 12 month low of $1,768.64 and a 12 month high of $3,199.99. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $2,822.95 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $2,434.49. The company has a market capitalization of $87.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 68.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 1.28.

Chipotle Mexican Grill’s stock is set to split on the morning of Wednesday, June 26th. The 50-1 split was announced on Tuesday, March 19th. The newly issued shares will be issued to shareholders after the market closes on Tuesday, June 25th.

Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The restaurant operator reported $13.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $11.63 by $1.74. The company had revenue of $2.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.67 billion. Chipotle Mexican Grill had a return on equity of 43.74% and a net margin of 12.70%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Chipotle Mexican Grill

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CMG. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,707,233 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $6,191,334,000 after acquiring an additional 23,151 shares during the period. Capital World Investors raised its position in Chipotle Mexican Grill by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 1,125,974 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,575,057,000 after purchasing an additional 8,541 shares during the period. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership lifted its stake in Chipotle Mexican Grill by 1.5% in the third quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 509,953 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $934,147,000 after purchasing an additional 7,677 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill by 5.9% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 449,942 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $824,217,000 after buying an additional 24,991 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill by 3.5% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 399,902 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $732,552,000 after buying an additional 13,482 shares during the period. 91.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Chipotle Mexican Grill news, insider Christopher W. Brandt sold 3,149 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2,927.84, for a total transaction of $9,219,768.16. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 8,563 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,071,093.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, Director Albert S. Baldocchi sold 750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2,608.51, for a total value of $1,956,382.50. Following the sale, the director now owns 37,271 shares in the company, valued at $97,221,776.21. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Christopher W. Brandt sold 3,149 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2,927.84, for a total transaction of $9,219,768.16. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 8,563 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,071,093.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 4,797 shares of company stock worth $13,530,931. 0.96% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Chipotle Mexican Grill

Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, owns and operates Chipotle Mexican Grill restaurants. It sells food and beverages through offering burritos, burrito bowls, quesadillas, tacos, and salads. The company also provides delivery and related services its app and website. It has operations in the United States, Canada, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom.