Blue Trust Inc. Grows Stake in Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG)

Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG) by 26.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 37,345 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,816 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Chipotle Mexican Grill were worth $2,252,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in Chipotle Mexican Grill by 1,087.9% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 4,712,724 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $271,547,000 after purchasing an additional 4,315,983 shares in the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill in the third quarter worth about $109,396,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its stake in Chipotle Mexican Grill by 674.3% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 2,122,778 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $122,314,000 after buying an additional 1,848,625 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates grew its holdings in Chipotle Mexican Grill by 94.3% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 2,969,776 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $171,118,000 after buying an additional 1,441,172 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Chipotle Mexican Grill by 5,188.9% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,421,140 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $818,860,000 after acquiring an additional 1,394,270 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.31% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Laurie Schalow sold 4,404 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.01, for a total transaction of $286,304.04. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 185,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,078,337.92. This represents a 2.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 1.02% of the company’s stock.

Chipotle Mexican Grill Price Performance

NYSE:CMG opened at $57.06 on Friday. Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. has a 1-year low of $47.98 and a 1-year high of $69.26. The company has a 50-day moving average of $59.50 and a 200 day moving average of $58.07. The firm has a market cap of $77.74 billion, a PE ratio of 51.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.27.

Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The restaurant operator reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.01. Chipotle Mexican Grill had a net margin of 13.56% and a return on equity of 42.92%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. will post 1.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on CMG. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Chipotle Mexican Grill from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill from $72.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. KeyCorp dropped their price target on Chipotle Mexican Grill from $66.00 to $64.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Chipotle Mexican Grill from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $66.31.

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.