Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. $CMG Shares Sold by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG) by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,009,786 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 445,484 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned approximately 0.97% of Chipotle Mexican Grill worth $730,499,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Saudi Central Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill during the first quarter worth $27,000. 1248 Management LLC purchased a new position in Chipotle Mexican Grill in the 1st quarter worth $27,000. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Chipotle Mexican Grill in the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group acquired a new stake in Chipotle Mexican Grill during the 2nd quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management grew its stake in Chipotle Mexican Grill by 109.3% during the 2nd quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 517 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on CMG. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on Chipotle Mexican Grill from $58.00 to $40.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $45.00 price target (down previously from $52.00) on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill from $65.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill from $44.00 to $40.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Stephens cut their price objective on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill from $48.00 to $35.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $49.81.

Chipotle Mexican Grill Trading Up 4.1%

Chipotle Mexican Grill stock opened at $31.60 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $41.78 billion, a PE ratio of 27.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.98. Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. has a 12 month low of $29.75 and a 12 month high of $66.74. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $37.35 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $44.75.

Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The restaurant operator reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.29. Chipotle Mexican Grill had a net margin of 13.04% and a return on equity of 44.32%. The firm had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.06 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.27 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. will post 1.29 EPS for the current year.

About Chipotle Mexican Grill

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.