Advisors Capital Management LLC Sells 849 Shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG)

Advisors Capital Management LLC lowered its stake in Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG) by 16.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,299 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 849 shares during the quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Chipotle Mexican Grill were worth $259,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Chipotle Mexican Grill in the 4th quarter valued at $1,093,345,000. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill in the fourth quarter valued at about $692,701,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its position in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill by 29.5% during the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 30,100,520 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,815,061,000 after buying an additional 6,853,470 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill during the fourth quarter worth about $315,220,000. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its position in Chipotle Mexican Grill by 2,145.9% in the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,180,051 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $191,757,000 after buying an additional 3,038,460 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.31% of the company’s stock.

Chipotle Mexican Grill Trading Down 1.4 %

NYSE:CMG opened at $48.75 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $51.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $56.77. The stock has a market cap of $66.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.91, a PEG ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.27. Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. has a 1-year low of $44.46 and a 1-year high of $69.26.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Cfra raised shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $59.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill from $70.00 to $65.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill from $64.00 to $58.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Chipotle Mexican Grill from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $65.00 to $70.00 in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Raymond James dropped their target price on Chipotle Mexican Grill from $72.00 to $69.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Chipotle Mexican Grill has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $65.60.

Chipotle Mexican Grill 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.