Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. $CMG Stock Purchased by Atwood & Palmer Inc.

Atwood & Palmer Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG) by 1,866.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 22,617 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 21,467 shares during the quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc.’s holdings in Chipotle Mexican Grill were worth $723,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. MV Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Osbon Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Chipotle Mexican Grill in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill during the second quarter worth $27,000. Kelleher Financial Advisors acquired a new position in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill during the second quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Merkkuri Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill during the first quarter valued at $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.30% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about 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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on CMG. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $40.00 target price (down from $45.00) on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill in a research note on Thursday. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill in a research note on Thursday. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $38.00 price target on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill in a research report on Thursday. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $53.00 price target (up from $50.00) on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill in a research note on Tuesday, September 1st. Finally, Mizuho decreased their price target on Chipotle Mexican Grill from $43.00 to $37.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 23rd. Twenty-seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.47.

Chipotle Mexican Grill Stock Performance

Shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill stock traded up $2.60 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $31.33. The company had a trading volume of 42,432,740 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,084,094. The company has a 50 day moving average of $33.20 and a 200 day moving average of $34.21. Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. has a 52-week low of $27.31 and a 52-week high of $41.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.74, a P/E/G 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 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.29 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $3.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.29 billion. Chipotle Mexican Grill had a net margin of 11.43% and a return on equity of 54.65%. Chipotle Mexican Grill’s quarterly revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.29 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. will post 1.14 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Matthew R. Bush sold 2,675 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.75, for a total value of $95,631.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 21,415 shares in the company, valued at approximately $765,586.25. The trade was 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 the SEC website. 0.45% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.