22,691 Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. $CMG Shares Bought by Sterling Capital Management LLC

Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG) by 269.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 31,117 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 22,691 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Chipotle Mexican Grill were worth $994,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Chipotle Mexican Grill during the second quarter worth approximately $4,417,475,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in Chipotle Mexican Grill by 19.8% during the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 16,478,248 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $527,469,000 after purchasing an additional 2,727,762 shares during the period. Amundi raised its stake in Chipotle Mexican Grill by 23.3% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 11,980,192 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $383,486,000 after purchasing an additional 2,266,087 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill in the second quarter worth $383,483,000. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill by 30.6% in the second quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 10,845,627 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $368,751,000 after acquiring an additional 2,541,795 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill in a research report on Thursday. TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $32.00 price objective on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill in a research report on Thursday. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $47.00 price target (up from $45.00) on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $51.00 price target on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill in a report on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill in a report on Friday, October 9th. Twenty-seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.47.

Key Stories 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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Matthew R. Bush sold 2,675 shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.75, for a total value of $95,631.25. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 21,415 shares in the company, valued at $765,586.25. This trade represents a 11.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.45% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Chipotle Mexican Grill Stock Performance

Shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill stock traded up $2.60 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $31.33. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 42,433,016 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,084,094. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $33.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $34.21. Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. has a one year low of $27.31 and a one year high of $41.42. The stock has a market cap of $39.65 billion, a P/E 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The restaurant operator reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by ($0.02). Chipotle Mexican Grill had a return on equity of 54.65% and a net margin of 11.43%. The business had revenue of $3.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.29 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.29 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. will post 1.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Chipotle Mexican Grill Profile

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.