Robert W. Baird Increases Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG) Price Target to $74.00

Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG) had its target price hoisted by stock analysts at Robert W. Baird from $70.00 to $74.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “outperform” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. Robert W. Baird’s target price points to a potential upside of 17.78% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts have also commented on CMG. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Chipotle Mexican Grill from $66.00 to $69.70 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Chipotle Mexican Grill from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. UBS Group upped their price target on Chipotle Mexican Grill from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. BTIG Research upped their price target on Chipotle Mexican Grill from $65.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on Chipotle Mexican Grill from $56.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $64.29.

Chipotle Mexican Grill Stock Performance

Chipotle Mexican Grill stock opened at $62.83 on Thursday. Chipotle Mexican Grill has a 52 week low of $35.37 and a 52 week high of $69.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $86.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 66.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.25. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $127.77 and a 200-day moving average of $77.99.

Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The restaurant operator reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.04. Chipotle Mexican Grill had a return on equity of 43.74% and a net margin of 12.70%. The business had revenue of $2.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.67 billion. On average, research analysts forecast that Chipotle Mexican Grill will post 1.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Brian R. Niccol sold 320,300 shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.72, for a total value of $20,409,003.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,133,450 shares in the company, valued at $72,221,620.48. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Albert S. Baldocchi sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.32, for a total transaction of $3,166,010.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,362,500 shares in the company, valued at $86,273,772.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Brian R. Niccol sold 320,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.72, for a total value of $20,409,003.52. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,133,450 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $72,221,620.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 550,750 shares of company stock worth $35,023,769. 1.02% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Chipotle Mexican Grill

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Chipotle Mexican Grill during the fourth quarter worth about $805,529,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Chipotle Mexican Grill by 220,249.6% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 301,879 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $6,903,850,000 after purchasing an additional 301,742 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Chipotle Mexican Grill by 41.6% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 397,182 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $727,570,000 after purchasing an additional 116,723 shares during the last quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Chipotle Mexican Grill during the first quarter worth about $167,256,000. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in Chipotle Mexican Grill during the fourth quarter worth about $100,535,000. 91.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.