Soltis Investment Advisors LLC recently disclosed a new acquisition of Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. stock, valued at approximately $2,099,000. This move by institutional investors often sets the tone for the future of companies in the food industry.
Chipotle Mexican Grill is a company focused on providing wholesome and real food using classic cooking methods. Founded by Steve Ells in 1993 and based in Newport Beach, California, Chipotle has been subject to many analyst reports lately.
Several firms have raised their price objective on Chipotle’s shares. Stephens raised its price objective to $2,000.00 per share from $1,970.00 per share with an “overweight” rating; Morgan Stanley increased its target price to $1,910.00 per share from $1,743.00 per share with an “equal weight” rating; Citigroup raised its price target to $2,240.00 per share from $2,140.00 per share with a “buy” rating; Robert W. Baird elevated the stock’s price objective to $2,200.00 per share from $2,000.00 with an “outperform” rating while BMO Capital Markets upgraded the target price to $1,950.00 from $1,8000 with a “market perform rating.”
Despite these optimistic recommendations by six analysts who rated Chipotle as hold and twenty-two as buy-rated stocks suggesting that it is good for investment purposes,” Bloomberg’s average rating of “Moderate Buy” indicates that there could still be upsides ahead.”
It remains to be seen how the acquisition of shares by Soltis Investment Advisors LLC will influence Chipotle’s performance going forward but expectations are high given the favorable ratings from several analysts who see great potential in this innovative food chain operator hoping that it will continue growing now and beyond May 13th , 2023 -the date used as a reference in this report.
Investors Show Confidence in Chipotle as Insiders Continue to Trade
Chipotle Mexican Grill continues to make headlines as institutional investors make changes to their positions in the company. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC, General Partner Inc., Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC, Pearl River Capital LLC, and Lido Advisors LLC have all taken positions in Chipotle Mexican Grill, boosting the value of the restaurant operator’s stock considerably. These moves signal a show of confidence in the fast-casual food chain, which has recently been riding high on impressive earnings reports.
Meanwhile, insiders continue to trade shares. Laurie Schalow, an insider at Chipotle Mexican Grill, sold 3,658 shares of the company’s stock earlier this month at an average price of $2,066.73 per share. Following the completion of the transaction, Schalow now owns 1,637 shares in the company valued at just over $3.38 million. CEO Brian R. Niccol also sold 5,636 shares of CMG stock back in February for a total transaction value of just under $9.3 million.
Despite insider trading activity and hedge fund investment moves causing tremors in trading platforms across Wall Street these days, Chipotle Mexican Grill remains focused on its core business: developing and operating classically-cooked meals made from wholesome ingredients without artificial colors or flavors. The company was founded by Steve Ells in 1993 and is headquartered in Newport Beach.
On May 13th, NYSE:CMG opened at $2,058.50 marking a strong performance for its fifty day moving average ($1,754.29) and two-hundred day moving average ($1,599.23). The stock’s market capitalization is listed as $56.79 billion with a beta factor of 1.34 – indicating slightly higher volatility than other companies its size.
Chipotle Mexican Grill’s most recent earnings report showed impressive results with an EPS of $10.50 for Q1 2023, beating the analyst consensus estimate of $8.89 by a considerable margin. The fast-casual food chain also posted revenue of $2.40 billion for the quarter, topping estimates of $2.34 billion by over $60 million.
With institutional investors taking positions and insider trading continuing unabated, Chipotle Mexican Grill looks set to maintain its strong performance in the coming months. Analysts predict that the company will post an EPS of 43.48 for the current fiscal year, leaving investors eager to see just how high Chipotle Mexican Grill can fly in 2023 and beyond.
