Stock Traders Buy Large Volume of Chipotle Mexican Grill Call Options (NYSE:CMG)

Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG) was the target of unusually large options trading on Thursday. Investors purchased 120,181 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 80% compared to the typical daily volume of 66,691 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Curtis E. Garner sold 17,394 shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.68, for a total transaction of $951,103.92. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 358,300 shares in the company, valued at $19,591,844. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.02% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Regal Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Chipotle Mexican Grill by 8,849.3% during the 2nd quarter. Regal Investment Advisors LLC now owns 12,350 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $774,000 after acquiring an additional 12,212 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new position in Chipotle Mexican Grill during the 2nd quarter worth $37,000. Invst LLC acquired a new position in Chipotle Mexican Grill during the 2nd quarter worth $279,000. Seaport Global Advisors LLC lifted its position in Chipotle Mexican Grill by 4,900.0% during the 2nd quarter. Seaport Global Advisors LLC now owns 13,050 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $818,000 after acquiring an additional 12,789 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its position in Chipotle Mexican Grill by 4,407.4% during the 2nd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 9,150 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $573,000 after acquiring an additional 8,947 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.31% of the company’s stock.

Chipotle Mexican Grill Trading Down 2.8 %

Shares of NYSE:CMG opened at $52.46 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $72.05 billion, a PE ratio of 55.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.24. Chipotle Mexican Grill has a 1 year low of $35.37 and a 1 year high of $69.26. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $122.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $80.27.

Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The restaurant operator reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $2.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.94 billion. Chipotle Mexican Grill had a net margin of 13.23% and a return on equity of 44.01%. Chipotle Mexican Grill’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $12.65 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Chipotle Mexican Grill will post 1.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on CMG. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $61.00 target price on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill in a report on Tuesday. Guggenheim boosted their target price on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill from $54.50 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating and set a $67.00 target price on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill in a report on Wednesday. Argus upped their price target on Chipotle Mexican Grill from $73.36 to $77.76 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Chipotle Mexican Grill from $74.00 to $62.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $62.36.

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.