Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG) Shares Bought by Sarasin & Partners LLP

Sarasin & Partners LLP lifted its position in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG) by 1,016.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,482,333 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 2,260,016 shares during the period. Chipotle Mexican Grill makes up about 1.3% of Sarasin & Partners LLP’s holdings, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. Sarasin & Partners LLP owned 0.18% of Chipotle Mexican Grill worth $124,638,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its stake in Chipotle Mexican Grill by 29.5% during the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 30,100,520 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,815,061,000 after acquiring an additional 6,853,470 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 28,476,031 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,712,238,000 after purchasing an additional 395,053 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in Chipotle Mexican Grill by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 20,236,980 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,220,290,000 after purchasing an additional 166,767 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Chipotle Mexican Grill in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,093,345,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Chipotle Mexican Grill by 11.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 14,443,085 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $870,918,000 after buying an additional 1,438,860 shares in the last quarter. 91.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Chipotle Mexican Grill Trading Down 2.6%

CMG stock opened at $51.15 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $50.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $54.54. Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. has a 12-month low of $44.46 and a 12-month high of $69.26. The firm has a market cap of $68.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.06.

Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The restaurant operator reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.01. Chipotle Mexican Grill had a net margin of 13.56% and a return on equity of 42.92%. The firm had revenue of $2.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.98 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $13.37 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. will post 1.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Chipotle Mexican Grill news, insider Roger E. Theodoredis sold 113,875 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.70, for a total value of $5,659,587.50. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 109,815 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,457,805.50. This trade represents a 50.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.81% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CMG has been the subject of several recent research reports. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill from $70.00 to $62.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill from $62.00 to $56.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. TD Securities cut their price objective on Chipotle Mexican Grill from $60.00 to $57.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Argus cut Chipotle Mexican Grill from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Chipotle Mexican Grill from $68.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $61.37.

Chipotle Mexican Grill 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.