Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG) Shares Up 0.2% Following Analyst Upgrade

Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG) shares traded up 0.2% during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on the stock from $2,350.00 to $2,700.00. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a hold rating on the stock. Chipotle Mexican Grill traded as high as $2,946.86 and last traded at $2,942.33. 160,565 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 41% from the average session volume of 273,978 shares. The stock had previously closed at $2,936.63.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on CMG. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Chipotle Mexican Grill from $2,600.00 to $2,800.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Citigroup increased their price target on Chipotle Mexican Grill from $3,016.00 to $3,358.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Chipotle Mexican Grill from $2,225.00 to $2,525.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 5th. KeyCorp increased their price target on Chipotle Mexican Grill from $2,750.00 to $3,250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on Chipotle Mexican Grill from $2,800.00 to $3,200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Chipotle Mexican Grill presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $2,719.86.

Insider Buying and Selling at Chipotle Mexican Grill

In other news, insider Roger E. Theodoredis sold 898 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2,622.25, for a total value of $2,354,780.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,529 shares in the company, valued at $4,009,420.25. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider Christopher W. Brandt sold 3,149 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2,927.84, for a total value of $9,219,768.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 8,563 shares in the company, valued at $25,071,093.92. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Roger E. Theodoredis sold 898 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2,622.25, for a total value of $2,354,780.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 1,529 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,009,420.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 6,793 shares of company stock worth $18,321,152. 0.96% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Chipotle Mexican Grill during the fourth quarter worth about $805,529,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Chipotle Mexican Grill by 220,249.6% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 301,879 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $6,903,850,000 after acquiring an additional 301,742 shares during the period. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Chipotle Mexican Grill during the fourth quarter worth about $248,604,000. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in Chipotle Mexican Grill by 65.8% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 375,736 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $521,332,000 after acquiring an additional 149,115 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Chipotle Mexican Grill by 41.6% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 397,182 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $727,570,000 after acquiring an additional 116,723 shares during the period. 91.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Chipotle Mexican Grill Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $79.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 65.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.28. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $2,772.86 and a 200 day moving average of $2,375.00.

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

Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The restaurant operator reported $10.36 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $9.73 by $0.63. Chipotle Mexican Grill had a return on equity of 44.41% and a net margin of 12.45%. The company had revenue of $2.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.49 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $8.29 earnings per share. Chipotle Mexican Grill’s quarterly revenue was up 15.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. will post 53.38 EPS for the current year.

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.