Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG) Short Interest Update

Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 17,590,000 shares, a decline of 23.7% from the February 13th total of 23,060,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 10,730,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.6 days. Approximately 1.3% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Chipotle Mexican Grill

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill by 1.2% during the third quarter. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC now owns 13,644 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $786,000 after buying an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Chipotle Mexican Grill by 14.0% during the 4th quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 1,436 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $87,000 after acquiring an additional 176 shares during the period. Traynor Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Traynor Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,522 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $454,000 after acquiring an additional 181 shares during the period. BTC Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. now owns 9,969 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $601,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the period. Finally, Revolve Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in Chipotle Mexican Grill by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,804 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $290,000 after purchasing an additional 214 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.31% of the company’s stock.

Chipotle Mexican Grill Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of CMG traded up $0.79 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $48.58. The stock had a trading volume of 1,169,166 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,111,249. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $55.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $57.84. The firm has a market cap of $65.84 billion, a PE ratio of 43.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.27. Chipotle Mexican Grill has a one year low of $47.54 and a one year high of $69.26.

Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The restaurant operator reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.01. Chipotle Mexican Grill had a net margin of 13.56% and a return on equity of 42.92%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Chipotle Mexican Grill will post 1.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on CMG. Stephens lowered their target price on Chipotle Mexican Grill from $61.00 to $60.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Loop Capital raised shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $58.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill from $72.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $65.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Chipotle Mexican Grill from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Chipotle Mexican Grill has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $66.74.

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.