Alliancebernstein L.P. Acquires 6,853,470 Shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG)

Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its holdings in Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG) by 29.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 30,100,520 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,853,470 shares during the quarter. Chipotle Mexican Grill accounts for 0.6% of Alliancebernstein L.P.’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Alliancebernstein L.P.’s holdings in Chipotle Mexican Grill were worth $1,815,061,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of CMG. Ethos Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Chipotle Mexican Grill in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its stake in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill by 1,110.0% in the fourth quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 605 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 555 shares during the period. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new stake in Chipotle Mexican Grill during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Financial Life Planners bought a new position in Chipotle Mexican Grill during the fourth quarter valued at about $45,000. Finally, Oakworth Capital Inc. acquired a new position in Chipotle Mexican Grill in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Chipotle Mexican Grill from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill from $56.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill from $66.00 to $64.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $65.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Cfra raised shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $59.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.67.

Chipotle Mexican Grill Price Performance

Shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill stock opened at $49.91 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $53.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $57.57. Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $47.55 and a fifty-two week high of $69.26. The firm has a market cap of $67.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.27.

Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The restaurant operator reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 expect that Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. will post 1.29 EPS for the current year.

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.