The Morning Brief: Barclays Cuts Target on Two Activist Stocks

The investment bank cut its price target and earnings estimates for the next two years for Buffalo Wild Wings and Chipotle.

Barclays cut its price target and earnings estimates for the next two years for two casual dining chains that are currently targets of activists. The investment bank reduced its target on Buffalo Wild Wings from $177 to $165. Mick McGuire III’s Marcato Capital Management recently secured three of four board seats it was seeking. Barclays also trimmed its price target on Chipotle Mexican Grill from $415 to $400.

Last December Chipotle agreed to add four board members as part of a compromise settlement with Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square Capital Management. At the end of the first quarter, Pershing Square was the largest shareholder. The stock was also the activist firm’s third-largest long position.
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JANA Partners liquidated its entire stake in Whole Foods Market. In April the activist hedge fund firm headed by Barry Rosenstein disclosed it owned 8.3 percent of the shares of the upscale grocery chain. Last month, Amazon.com agreed to acquire Whole Foods for $13.7 billion.
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Igor Tulchinsky’s WorldQuant Ventures participated in the latest $3 million financing of EquityZen, a secondary market for investments in pre-IPO companies. WorldQuant also participated in an earlier financing. EquityZen has already made more than 2,000 investments in more than 70 private companies, according to the company.

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