Longbow Finance SA Makes New $4.28 Million Investment in Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG)

Longbow Finance SA acquired a new stake in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 71,010 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $4,282,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in CMG. Congress Asset Management Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $109,396,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its holdings in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill by 674.3% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 2,122,778 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $122,314,000 after purchasing an additional 1,848,625 shares in the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec boosted its position in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill by 123.3% in the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 2,471,335 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $142,398,000 after buying an additional 1,364,635 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill by 224.2% in the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 1,696,457 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $97,750,000 after buying an additional 1,173,207 shares during the period. Finally, Premier Fund Managers Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill during the third quarter valued at $57,335,000. 91.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Laurie Schalow sold 4,404 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.01, for a total value of $286,304.04. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 185,792 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,078,337.92. This represents a 2.32 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.02% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on CMG. Wedbush decreased their price objective on Chipotle Mexican Grill from $69.00 to $64.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Loop Capital boosted their price objective on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of 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. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $66.31.

Chipotle Mexican Grill Price Performance

Shares of CMG opened at $51.15 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $58.11 and its 200 day moving average price is $58.14. The company has a market capitalization of $69.32 billion, a PE ratio of 46.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.27. Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. has a one year low of $47.98 and a one year high of $69.26.

Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The restaurant operator reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.01. Chipotle Mexican Grill had a net margin of 13.56% and a return on equity of 42.92%. Analysts anticipate that Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. will post 1.29 earnings per share 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.