Principal Securities Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG)

Principal Securities Inc. boosted its stake in Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG) by 3.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 24,247 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 700 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc.’s holdings in Chipotle Mexican Grill were worth $1,462,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Chipotle Mexican Grill by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC now owns 13,644 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $786,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. now owns 14,625 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $843,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Connable Office Inc. raised its stake in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill by 0.6% in the third quarter. Connable Office Inc. now owns 31,928 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,840,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares during the last quarter. Traynor Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Traynor Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,522 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $454,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BTC Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. now owns 9,969 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $601,000 after buying an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. 91.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on CMG. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $75.00 target price on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Loop Capital raised their price target on Chipotle Mexican Grill from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Chipotle Mexican Grill from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Chipotle Mexican Grill from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.31.

Chipotle Mexican Grill Price Performance

NYSE:CMG opened at $54.48 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $74.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.07, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.27. Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. has a 1 year low of $47.98 and a 1 year high of $69.26. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $59.35 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $58.16.

Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 13.56% and a return on equity of 42.92%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. will post 1.29 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

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

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.