Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG) Upgraded to “Overweight” at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG) from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday, Marketbeat.com reports. Morgan Stanley currently has $70.00 price objective on the restaurant operator’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $65.00.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on CMG. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill from $60.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill from $63.00 to $60.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Raymond James dropped their price target on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill from $72.00 to $69.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, KeyCorp dropped their price target on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill from $66.00 to $64.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $66.60.

Chipotle Mexican Grill Price Performance

NYSE:CMG opened at $53.62 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $56.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $58.10. Chipotle Mexican Grill has a one year low of $47.98 and a one year high of $69.26. The company has a market cap of $72.68 billion, a PE ratio of 48.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.27.

Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The restaurant operator reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.01. Chipotle Mexican Grill had a net margin of 13.56% and a return on equity of 42.92%. Equities research analysts expect that Chipotle Mexican Grill will post 1.29 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Chipotle Mexican Grill

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

Institutional Trading of Chipotle Mexican Grill

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CMG. Transcendent Capital Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill by 950.0% in the 3rd quarter. Transcendent Capital Group LLC now owns 525 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 475 shares in the last quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill in the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill in the 3rd quarter worth $33,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its stake in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill by 1,110.0% in the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 605 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 555 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill in the 3rd quarter worth about $37,000. Institutional investors own 91.31% of the company’s stock.

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.