Principal Securities Inc. Purchases 700 Shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG)

Principal Securities Inc. grew its position in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG) by 3.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,247 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 700 shares during the quarter. Principal Securities Inc.’s holdings in Chipotle Mexican Grill were worth $1,462,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Chipotle Mexican Grill by 1.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 28,080,978 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,612,682,000 after buying an additional 438,007 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill by 2.9% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 13,661,937 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $805,692,000 after acquiring an additional 381,873 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 9,830,644 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $566,439,000 after acquiring an additional 518,521 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in Chipotle Mexican Grill by 11.6% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 8,271,318 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $476,593,000 after acquiring an additional 858,704 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Chipotle Mexican Grill by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,200,369 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $472,505,000 after purchasing an additional 132,756 shares during the last quarter. 91.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CMG has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup raised their target price on Chipotle Mexican Grill from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on Chipotle Mexican Grill from $66.00 to $64.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Stephens reduced their price objective on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill from $61.00 to $60.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $66.31.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Laurie Schalow sold 4,404 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.01, for a total transaction of $286,304.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 185,792 shares in the company, valued at $12,078,337.92. The trade was a 2.32 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.02% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Chipotle Mexican Grill Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CMG opened at $54.48 on Wednesday. Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $47.98 and a fifty-two week high of $69.26. The stock has a market cap of $74.23 billion, a PE ratio of 49.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.27. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $59.35 and a 200-day moving average of $58.16.

Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The restaurant operator reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.01. Chipotle Mexican Grill had a return on equity of 42.92% and a net margin of 13.56%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. will post 1.29 EPS for the current year.

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.