Decoding Chipotle Mexican Grill's Options Activity: What's the Big Picture?

Investors with a lot of money to spend have taken a bearish stance on Chipotle Mexican Grill CMG.

And retail traders should know.

We noticed this today when the trades showed up on publicly available options history that we track here at Benzinga.

Whether these are institutions or just wealthy individuals, we don't know. But when something this big happens with CMG, it often means somebody knows something is about to happen.

So how do we know what these investors just did?

Today, Benzinga's options scanner spotted 8 uncommon options trades for Chipotle Mexican Grill.

This isn't normal.

The overall sentiment of these big-money traders is split between 37% bullish and 62%, bearish.

Out of all of the special options we uncovered, 5 are puts, for a total amount of $490,010, and 3 are calls, for a total amount of $426,350.

Expected Price Movements

Taking into account the Volume and Open Interest on these contracts, it appears that whales have been targeting a price range from $1400.0 to $3300.0 for Chipotle Mexican Grill over the last 3 months.

Analyzing Volume & Open Interest

Looking at the volume and open interest is an insightful way to conduct due diligence on a stock.

This data can help you track the liquidity and interest for Chipotle Mexican Grill's options for a given strike price.

Below, we can observe the evolution of the volume and open interest of calls and puts, respectively, for all of Chipotle Mexican Grill's whale activity within a strike price range from $1400.0 to $3300.0 in the last 30 days.

Chipotle Mexican Grill Call and Put Volume: 30-Day Overview

Noteworthy Options Activity:

About Chipotle Mexican Grill

Chipotle Mexican Grill is the largest fast-casual chain restaurant in the United States, with systemwide sales of $9.9 billion in 2023. The Mexican concept is predominately company-owned (it recently inked a development agreement with Alshaya Group in the Middle East), with a footprint of nearly 3,440 stores at the end of 2023, heavily indexed to the United States, although the firm maintains a small presence in Canada, the U.K., France, and Germany. Chipotle sells burritos, burrito bowls, tacos, quesadillas, and beverages, with a selling proposition built around competitive prices, high-quality food sourcing, speed of service, and convenience. The company generates its revenue entirely from restaurant sales and delivery fees.

Having examined the options trading patterns of Chipotle Mexican Grill, our attention now turns directly to the company. This shift allows us to delve into its present market position and performance

Current Position of Chipotle Mexican Grill

• With a trading volume of 26,505, the price of CMG is down by 0.0%, reaching $2688.77.
• Current RSI values indicate that the stock is is currently neutral between overbought and oversold.
• Next earnings report is scheduled for 53 days from now.

Professional Analyst Ratings for Chipotle Mexican Grill

5 market experts have recently issued ratings for this stock, with a consensus target price of $2877.2.

• An analyst from Truist Securities persists with their Buy rating on Chipotle Mexican Grill, maintaining a target price of $2920.
• An analyst from Wells Fargo has decided to maintain their Overweight rating on Chipotle Mexican Grill, which currently sits at a price target of $2800.
• Consistent in their evaluation, an analyst from TD Cowen keeps a Outperform rating on Chipotle Mexican Grill with a target price of $2900.
• Consistent in their evaluation, an analyst from Keybanc keeps a Overweight rating on Chipotle Mexican Grill with a target price of $2750.
• An analyst from Citigroup has decided to maintain their Buy rating on Chipotle Mexican Grill, which currently sits at a price target of $3016.

Options are a riskier asset compared to just trading the stock, but they have higher profit potential. Serious options traders manage this risk by educating themselves daily, scaling in and out of trades, following more than one indicator, and following the markets closely.

If you want to stay updated on the latest options trades for Chipotle Mexican Grill, Benzinga Pro gives you real-time options trades alerts.