Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG) Price Target Raised to $74.00

Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG) had its price target upped by Robert W. Baird from $70.00 to $74.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “outperform” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. Robert W. Baird’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 17.78% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on CMG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Chipotle Mexican Grill from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, June 3rd. Argus increased their price target on Chipotle Mexican Grill from $73.36 to $77.76 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Chipotle Mexican Grill from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Chipotle Mexican Grill from $59.72 to $62.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on Chipotle Mexican Grill from $67.16 to $67.38 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $64.29.

Chipotle Mexican Grill Stock Performance

Shares of CMG stock opened at $62.83 on Thursday. Chipotle Mexican Grill has a 52-week low of $35.37 and a 52-week high of $69.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $86.29 billion, a PE ratio of 66.84, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.25. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $127.77 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $77.99.

Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The restaurant operator reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.04. Chipotle Mexican Grill had a return on equity of 43.74% and a net margin of 12.70%. The business had revenue of $2.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.67 billion. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Chipotle Mexican Grill will post 1.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Albert S. Baldocchi sold 50,000 shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.32, for a total transaction of $3,166,010.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 1,362,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $86,273,772.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Albert S. Baldocchi sold 50,000 shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.32, for a total transaction of $3,166,010.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 1,362,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $86,273,772.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brian R. Niccol sold 320,300 shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.72, for a total transaction of $20,409,003.52. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,133,450 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $72,221,620.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 550,750 shares of company stock valued at $35,023,769 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.02% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Chipotle Mexican Grill

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of CMG. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in Chipotle Mexican Grill by 24.2% in the third quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC now owns 298 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $546,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Chipotle Mexican Grill by 1,043.0% in the third quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 10,847 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $19,870,000 after purchasing an additional 9,898 shares during the last quarter. Armistice Capital LLC grew its holdings in Chipotle Mexican Grill by 32.5% in the third quarter. Armistice Capital LLC now owns 6,425 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $11,770,000 after purchasing an additional 1,575 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in Chipotle Mexican Grill by 104.5% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 29,192 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $66,555,000 after purchasing an additional 14,915 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gotham Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Chipotle Mexican Grill by 62.4% in the third quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 1,527 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,797,000 after purchasing an additional 587 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.31% of the company’s stock.

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.