Bailard Inc. Purchases Shares of 8,523 Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG)

Bailard Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 8,523 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $514,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 28,080,978 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,612,682,000 after purchasing an additional 438,007 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill by 2.9% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 13,661,937 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $805,692,000 after purchasing an additional 381,873 shares in the last quarter. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill during the fourth quarter worth $692,701,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in Chipotle Mexican Grill by 5.6% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 9,830,644 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $566,439,000 after buying an additional 518,521 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in Chipotle Mexican Grill by 11.6% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 8,271,318 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $476,593,000 after buying an additional 858,704 shares in the last quarter. 91.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CMG has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Chipotle Mexican Grill from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Chipotle Mexican Grill from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $65.00 to $70.00 in a report on Monday. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill from $63.00 to $60.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $66.60.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Laurie Schalow sold 4,404 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 185,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,078,337.92. This represents a 2.32 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.02% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Chipotle Mexican Grill Stock Down 2.3 %

NYSE CMG opened at $53.10 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.82, a P/E/G ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.27. Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. has a 52-week low of $47.98 and a 52-week high of $69.26. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $57.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $58.14.

Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The restaurant operator reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.01. Chipotle Mexican Grill had a return on equity of 42.92% and a net margin of 13.56%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. will post 1.29 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.