Franklin Resources Inc. Increases Stock Position in Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG)

Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG) by 2.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,661,937 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 381,873 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned approximately 1.00% of Chipotle Mexican Grill worth $805,692,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Chipotle Mexican Grill by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 28,080,978 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,612,682,000 after purchasing an additional 438,007 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in Chipotle Mexican Grill by 4,732.3% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 20,177,309 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,264,109,000 after purchasing an additional 19,759,754 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in Chipotle Mexican Grill by 5,209.5% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 10,935,669 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $685,128,000 after purchasing an additional 10,729,706 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in Chipotle Mexican Grill by 5,930.8% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 10,310,132 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $645,930,000 after purchasing an additional 10,139,174 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in 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 purchasing an additional 518,521 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill from $67.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, 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. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $65.71.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Curtis E. Garner sold 15,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.05, for a total transaction of $898,537.50. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 457,764 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,115,436.20. This represents a 3.33 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Laurie Schalow sold 4,404 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.01, for a total transaction of $286,304.04. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 185,792 shares in the company, valued at $12,078,337.92. The trade was a 2.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.02% of the company’s stock.

Chipotle Mexican Grill Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of CMG stock opened at $66.18 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $90.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 61.60, a PEG ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.27. Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. has a 52 week low of $44.08 and a 52 week high of $69.26. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $60.05 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $80.92.

Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The restaurant operator reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $2.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.82 billion. Chipotle Mexican Grill had a net margin of 13.51% and a return on equity of 43.20%. The business’s revenue was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.23 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. will post 1.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.