Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG) Shares Sold by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its stake in Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG - Free Report) by 5.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,213,589 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 127,243 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.16% of Chipotle Mexican Grill worth $111,144,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $315,220,000. Vinva Investment Management Ltd grew its position in Chipotle Mexican Grill by 50.6% in the 4th quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 65,069 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $3,910,000 after buying an additional 21,864 shares during the last quarter. Community Trust & Investment Co. purchased a new position in Chipotle Mexican Grill in the 1st quarter valued at $7,773,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in Chipotle Mexican Grill in the 4th quarter valued at $488,000. Finally, Valicenti Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in Chipotle Mexican Grill in the 1st quarter valued at $3,317,000. 91.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Roger E. Theodoredis sold 113,875 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.70, for a total value of $5,659,587.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 109,815 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,457,805.50. The trade was a 50.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.81% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on CMG. Guggenheim set a $47.00 target price on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill in a report on Friday, April 25th. Loop Capital lowered their target price on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill from $65.00 to $63.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Chipotle Mexican Grill from $70.00 to $62.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Chipotle Mexican Grill from $67.00 to $65.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic began coverage on Chipotle Mexican Grill in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $55.00 price objective on the stock. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $60.93.

Chipotle Mexican Grill Price Performance

CMG traded up $0.39 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $57.16. 10,384,051 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 12,859,475. Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. has a 1-year low of $44.46 and a 1-year high of $66.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $77.01 billion, a PE ratio of 50.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.08. The business's 50-day moving average price is $52.07 and its 200 day moving average price is $53.33.

Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The restaurant operator reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.01. Chipotle Mexican Grill had a return on equity of 43.29% and a net margin of 13.59%. The firm had revenue of $2.88 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.98 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $13.37 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. will post 1.29 EPS for the current fiscal 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.