Sarasin & Partners LLP Buys 119,217 Shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG)

Sarasin & Partners LLP grew its stake in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG) by 115.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 222,317 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 119,217 shares during the quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP’s holdings in Chipotle Mexican Grill were worth $13,406,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill by 1.2% in the third quarter. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC now owns 13,644 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $786,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. boosted its position in Chipotle Mexican Grill by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. now owns 14,625 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $843,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Connable Office Inc. boosted its position in Chipotle Mexican Grill by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Connable Office Inc. now owns 31,928 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,840,000 after acquiring an additional 178 shares in the last quarter. Albion Financial Group UT boosted its position in Chipotle Mexican Grill by 14.4% during the 3rd quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 1,430 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $82,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CVA Family Office LLC boosted its position in Chipotle Mexican Grill by 8.7% during the 3rd quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 2,313 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $133,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. 91.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on CMG shares. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Chipotle Mexican Grill from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $65.00 target price on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill from $66.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Loop Capital boosted their price objective on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price objective 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. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.81.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Chipotle Mexican Grill Price Performance

Shares of CMG stock opened at $57.52 on Monday. Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. has a 1 year low of $46.01 and a 1 year high of $69.26. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $60.91 and a 200-day moving average price of $57.85. The company has a market cap of $78.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.54, a PEG ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.27.

Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The restaurant operator reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $2.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.82 billion. Chipotle Mexican Grill had a net margin of 13.51% and a return on equity of 43.20%. Chipotle Mexican Grill’s quarterly revenue was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.23 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. will post 1.11 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.