Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG) have been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty-seven research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $64.29.

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Chipotle Mexican Grill from $64.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. StockNews.com cut shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill from $59.72 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill from $48.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Chipotle Mexican Grill from $47.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Brian R. Niccol sold 320,300 shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.72, for a total transaction of $20,409,003.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,133,450 shares in the company, valued at $72,221,620.48. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO Brian R. Niccol sold 320,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.72, for a total value of $20,409,003.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,133,450 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $72,221,620.48. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Albert S. Baldocchi sold 50,000 shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.32, for a total value of $3,166,010.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 1,362,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $86,273,772.50. 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 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.02% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Chipotle Mexican Grill

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CMG. Norges Bank bought a new position in Chipotle Mexican Grill in the 4th quarter valued at about $805,529,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Chipotle Mexican Grill by 220,249.6% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 301,879 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $6,903,850,000 after purchasing an additional 301,742 shares during the last quarter. Appleton Partners Inc. MA boosted its stake in Chipotle Mexican Grill by 4,779.9% in the 2nd quarter. Appleton Partners Inc. MA now owns 210,225 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $13,171,000 after purchasing an additional 205,917 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Chipotle Mexican Grill by 41.6% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 397,182 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $727,570,000 after buying an additional 116,723 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Global Assets Advisory LLC bought a new position in Chipotle Mexican Grill during the 1st quarter worth $167,256,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.31% of the company’s stock.

Chipotle Mexican Grill Stock Performance

CMG opened at $61.60 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $127.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $78.65. The firm has a market cap of $84.60 billion, a PE ratio of 65.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.24. Chipotle Mexican Grill has a twelve month low of $35.37 and a twelve month high of $69.26.

Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The restaurant operator reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.67 billion. Chipotle Mexican Grill had a net margin of 12.70% and a return on equity of 43.74%. Equities analysts forecast that Chipotle Mexican Grill will post 1.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Chipotle Mexican Grill Company Profile

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.