Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG) Now Covered by The Goldman Sachs Group

The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG) in a research report report published on Thursday, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm issued a buy rating and a $3,730.00 price target on the restaurant operator’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Chipotle Mexican Grill from $3,300.00 to $3,485.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Chipotle Mexican Grill from $2,350.00 to $2,700.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on Chipotle Mexican Grill from $3,250.00 to $3,400.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Chipotle Mexican Grill from $2,700.00 to $3,270.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Argus raised their target price on Chipotle Mexican Grill from $3,265.00 to $3,366.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $3,181.85.

Chipotle Mexican Grill Price Performance

Shares of CMG stock opened at $3,271.71 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $89.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 69.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.25. The business has a fifty day moving average of $3,102.52 and a 200 day moving average of $2,716.30. Chipotle Mexican Grill has a 1 year low of $1,768.64 and a 1 year high of $3,293.53.

Chipotle Mexican Grill’s stock is scheduled to split on the morning of Wednesday, June 26th. The 50-1 split was announced on Tuesday, March 19th. The newly created shares will be payable to shareholders after the market closes on Tuesday, June 25th.

Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The restaurant operator reported $13.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.63 by $1.74. The business had revenue of $2.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.67 billion. Chipotle Mexican Grill had a return on equity of 43.74% and a net margin of 12.70%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Chipotle Mexican Grill will post 55.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Brian R. Niccol sold 6,406 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,185.92, for a total transaction of $20,409,003.52. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 22,669 shares in the company, valued at approximately $72,221,620.48. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider Christopher W. Brandt sold 3,149 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2,927.84, for a total transaction of $9,219,768.16. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 8,563 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,071,093.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Brian R. Niccol sold 6,406 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,185.92, for a total value of $20,409,003.52. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 22,669 shares in the company, valued at $72,221,620.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 14,164 shares of company stock worth $44,243,538. Insiders own 1.02% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Steph & Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill by 225.0% during the 1st quarter. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 13 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 9 shares during the period. Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Finally, Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $37,000. 91.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.