Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $1.74 EPS

Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG) released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The restaurant operator reported $13.37 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $11.63 by $1.74, reports. Chipotle Mexican Grill had a net margin of 12.70% and a return on equity of 43.74%. The firm had revenue of $2.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.67 billion.

Chipotle Mexican Grill Trading Up 2.4 %

Shares of CMG stock traded up $75.00 on Friday, reaching $3,186.97. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 336,557 shares, compared to its average volume of 254,209. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $2,822.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $2,426.07. Chipotle Mexican Grill has a 1 year low of $1,768.64 and a 1 year high of $3,199.99. The company has a market capitalization of $87.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 68.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.28.

Shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill are going to split on Wednesday, June 26th. The 50-1 split was announced on Tuesday, March 19th. The newly created shares will be distributed to shareholders after the market closes on Tuesday, June 25th.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill from $3,200.00 to $3,600.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Wedbush raised their target price on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill from $2,850.00 to $3,200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill from $3,250.00 to $3,400.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill from $3,250.00 to $3,500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, BTIG Research raised their target price on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill from $3,250.00 to $3,350.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $3,137.12.

Insider Activity at Chipotle Mexican Grill

In other Chipotle Mexican Grill news, insider Christopher W. Brandt sold 3,149 shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2,927.84, for a total transaction of $9,219,768.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 8,563 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,071,093.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Chipotle Mexican Grill news, insider Christopher W. Brandt sold 3,149 shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2,927.84, for a total transaction of $9,219,768.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 8,563 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,071,093.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Brian R. Niccol sold 1,996 shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2,399.91, for a total transaction of $4,790,220.36. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 22,447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $53,870,779.77. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 6,793 shares of company stock valued at $18,321,152. 0.96% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Chipotle Mexican Grill by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,707,233 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $6,191,334,000 after buying an additional 23,151 shares during the period. Capital World Investors lifted its position in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 1,125,974 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,575,057,000 after purchasing an additional 8,541 shares during the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership lifted its position in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill by 1.5% during the third quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 509,953 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $934,147,000 after purchasing an additional 7,677 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill by 5.9% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 449,942 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $824,217,000 after purchasing an additional 24,991 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill by 3.5% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 399,902 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $732,552,000 after purchasing an additional 13,482 shares during the last quarter. 91.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.