Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG) Shares Up 0.5% After Analyst Upgrade

Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG) shot up 0.5% during mid-day trading on Thursday after Morgan Stanley raised their price target on the stock from $2,500.00 to $2,986.00. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Chipotle Mexican Grill traded as high as $2,989.19 and last traded at $2,980.00. 64,318 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 72% from the average session volume of 230,429 shares. The stock had previously closed at $2,965.69.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on CMG. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill from $3,100.00 to $3,300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. Argus increased their price target on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill from $3,265.00 to $3,366.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Wedbush increased their price target on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill from $2,400.00 to $2,850.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill from $2,225.00 to $2,525.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 5th. Finally, Stephens assumed coverage on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill in a research report on Friday. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $3,010.00 price target on the stock. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $2,720.59.

Insider Transactions at Chipotle Mexican Grill

In other news, CEO Brian R. Niccol sold 1,996 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2,399.91, for a total transaction of $4,790,220.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 22,447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $53,870,779.77. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Albert S. Baldocchi sold 750 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 37,271 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $97,221,776.21. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Brian R. Niccol sold 1,996 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2,399.91, for a total transaction of $4,790,220.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 22,447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $53,870,779.77. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 6,793 shares of company stock valued at $18,321,152 in the last ninety days. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Chipotle Mexican Grill

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew 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 buying an additional 23,151 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its position in Chipotle Mexican Grill by 0.8% during the fourth 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. State Street Corp boosted its position in Chipotle Mexican Grill by 0.5% during the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,042,969 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,781,678,000 after purchasing an additional 5,358 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Chipotle Mexican Grill by 1.7% during the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 565,479 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $963,779,000 after purchasing an additional 9,520 shares during the period. Finally, Artisan Partners Limited Partnership boosted its position in Chipotle Mexican Grill by 1.5% during 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 period. 91.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Chipotle Mexican Grill Price Performance

The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $2,749.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $2,348.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $81.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 66.70, a PEG ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.28.

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

Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The restaurant operator reported $10.36 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.73 by $0.63. Chipotle Mexican Grill had a net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 44.41%. The firm had revenue of $2.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.49 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $8.29 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. will post 53.12 earnings per share 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.