Gateway Investment Advisers LLC Trims Stock Position in Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG)

Gateway Investment Advisers LLC decreased its stake in Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG) by 39.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,974 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 2,548 shares during the quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC’s holdings in Chipotle Mexican Grill were worth $240,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Shellback Capital LP boosted its position in Chipotle Mexican Grill by 4,900.0% in the 2nd quarter. Shellback Capital LP now owns 125,000 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $7,831,000 after purchasing an additional 122,500 shares in the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in Chipotle Mexican Grill by 5,897.8% during the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 48,942 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,820,000 after buying an additional 48,126 shares in the last quarter. L & S Advisors Inc acquired a new stake in Chipotle Mexican Grill during the third quarter valued at $3,256,000. Optas LLC increased its holdings in Chipotle Mexican Grill by 318.5% in the third quarter. Optas LLC now owns 17,160 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $989,000 after buying an additional 13,060 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Savvy Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill in the third quarter worth about $758,000. 91.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Chipotle Mexican Grill Price Performance

Shares of CMG opened at $57.52 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $60.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $57.85. Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. has a 1-year low of $46.01 and a 1-year high of $69.26. The stock has a market cap of $78.38 billion, a PE ratio of 53.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.27.

Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The restaurant operator reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.02. Chipotle Mexican Grill had a net margin of 13.51% and a return on equity of 43.20%. The firm had revenue of $2.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.82 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.23 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. will post 1.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. TD Cowen raised their target price on Chipotle Mexican Grill from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Chipotle Mexican Grill from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Chipotle Mexican Grill from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill from $67.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $66.81.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Chipotle Mexican Grill news, insider Laurie Schalow sold 4,404 shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.01, for a total value of $286,304.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 185,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,078,337.92. The trade was a 2.32 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 1.02% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.