64,020 Shares in Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. $CMG Acquired by Ninety One North America Inc.

Ninety One North America Inc. acquired a new position in Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 64,020 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $2,176,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. EP Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill in the second quarter worth $948,000. Callan Family Office LLC acquired a new position in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,406,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its position in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill by 7,051.6% in the 3rd quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 243,726 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $7,787,000 after acquiring an additional 240,318 shares during the period. Park National Corp OH lifted its position in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill by 442.1% during the 3rd quarter. Park National Corp OH now owns 309,327 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $9,883,000 after buying an additional 252,265 shares during the period. Finally, KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill by 246.4% during the 3rd quarter. KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC now owns 141,389 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $4,517,000 after buying an additional 100,569 shares during the period. 91.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Headlines Impacting Chipotle Mexican Grill

Here are the key news stories impacting Chipotle Mexican Grill this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Third-quarter revenue rose 9.6% to $3.29 billion, in line with expectations, while comparable-restaurant sales increased 2.1% and transactions grew for the third consecutive quarter. Value offers and limited-time menu items helped attract diners. Chipotle beats quarterly sales expectations on resilient demand
• Positive Sentiment: Investors responded favorably to signs of a traffic recovery following earlier food-safety concerns. New menu launches, refreshed loyalty benefits and plans to accelerate technology and menu innovation are supporting the turnaround. Chipotle Sales Beat as New Chicken, Chips Bring Diners Back
• Positive Sentiment: Chipotle opened 84 company-owned restaurants during the quarter, and its loyalty program surpassed 24 million members, providing additional long-term growth and customer-engagement potential. Chipotle: 3 Key Takeaways for Long-Term Investors
• Positive Sentiment: Several analysts maintained bullish ratings, including DA Davidson and BTIG Research at $45 targets and Oppenheimer at a $51 target, implying substantial upside based on the supplied reference price. Oppenheimer analyst rating
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst opinion remains mixed: Citigroup kept a Buy rating while cutting its target to $41, whereas BNP Paribas Exane retained Neutral and reduced its target to $36. Bernstein also lowered its target to $43 from $50. Citigroup price target
• Negative Sentiment: Adjusted earnings were $0.27 per share, below the $0.29 consensus and last year’s $0.29, as higher operating costs, beef prices and increased protein usage pressured margins. Chipotle Q3 earnings miss estimates
• Negative Sentiment: Management’s outlook calls for only modestly higher sales, leaving investors dependent on the fourth-quarter brisket launch, continued traffic gains and successful cost management to sustain the recovery. The rest of Chipotle’s year hinges on brisket

Insider Transactions at Chipotle Mexican Grill

In other Chipotle Mexican Grill news, insider Matthew R. Bush sold 2,675 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.75, for a total transaction of $95,631.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 21,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $765,586.25. This trade represents a 11.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.45% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on CMG shares. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $47.00 target price (up from $45.00) on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Chipotle Mexican Grill from $40.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 29th. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on Chipotle Mexican Grill from $42.00 to $39.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Chipotle Mexican Grill from $45.00 to $40.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 21st. Finally, BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $45.00 price target on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill in a research note on Thursday. Twenty-seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.47.

Chipotle Mexican Grill Stock Performance

CMG stock traded up $2.60 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $31.33. 42,432,740 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,084,094. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $33.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $34.21. Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. has a 52 week low of $27.31 and a 52 week high of $41.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.65 billion, a PE ratio of 28.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.96.

Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The restaurant operator reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by ($0.02). Chipotle Mexican Grill had a net margin of 11.43% and a return on equity of 54.65%. The firm had revenue of $3.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.29 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.29 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. will post 1.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Chipotle Mexican Grill

Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc (NYSE: CMG) operates a chain of fast-casual restaurants focused on Mexican-inspired food. Its menu includes burritos, burrito bowls, tacos, quesadillas and salads, with options such as chicken, steak, barbacoa, carnitas, sofritas and vegetables. The company emphasizes preparing food in its restaurants from ingredients it describes as responsibly sourced, including meats raised with attention to animal welfare and produce from selected suppliers.

Founded by Steve Ells in 1993, Chipotle opened its first restaurant in Denver, Colorado.