Meridian Wealth Management LLC Purchases Shares of 14,910 Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG)

Meridian Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG) in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor acquired 14,910 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $859,000.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Shellback Capital LP boosted its stake 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 valued at $7,831,000 after purchasing an additional 122,500 shares during the period. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill in the first quarter valued at about $53,979,000. Optas LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 13,060 shares during the period. L & S Advisors Inc acquired a new position in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill in the third quarter valued at about $3,256,000. Finally, Savvy Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Chipotle Mexican Grill during the third quarter worth about $758,000. Institutional investors own 91.31% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CMG has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $65.00 price objective on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill in a report on Monday, September 30th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Chipotle Mexican Grill from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Chipotle Mexican Grill from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada began coverage on Chipotle Mexican Grill in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $70.00 target price for the company. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Chipotle Mexican Grill from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Chipotle Mexican Grill presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $65.27.

Chipotle Mexican Grill Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CMG opened at $62.01 on Friday. Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. has a 1 year low of $43.66 and a 1 year high of $69.26. The firm has a market cap of $84.49 billion, a PE ratio of 57.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $58.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $81.06.

Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The restaurant operator reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $2.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.82 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.23 earnings per share. Chipotle Mexican Grill’s revenue was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. will post 1.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Curtis E. Garner sold 15,750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.02, for a total transaction of $866,565.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 473,514 shares in the company, valued at $26,052,740.28. This trade represents a 3.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Robin S. Hickenlooper sold 1,790 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.38, for a total value of $100,920.20. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 41,510 shares in the company, valued at $2,340,333.80. The trade was a 4.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 33,290 shares of company stock valued at $1,866,023. 1.02% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.