Morgan Stanley Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Maplebear (NASDAQ:CART) Stock

Maplebear (NASDAQ:CART) had its price objective raised by stock analysts at Morgan Stanley from $41.00 to $44.00 in a note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective would suggest a potential downside of 0.45% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on CART. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of Maplebear in a research report on Friday. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $47.00 target price on the stock. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Maplebear from $50.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Maplebear from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $45.00 target price on shares of Maplebear in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Maplebear from $44.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $47.63.

Maplebear Price Performance

Shares of CART stock traded down $0.03 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $44.20. The company had a trading volume of 2,216,679 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,781,475. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $43.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $39.38. Maplebear has a 52-week low of $22.70 and a 52-week high of $50.01. The stock has a market cap of $11.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.66, a PEG ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.04.

Maplebear (NASDAQ:CART) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $852.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $844.03 million. Maplebear had a return on equity of 13.78% and a net margin of 13.37%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($20.86) earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Maplebear will post 1.4 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Maplebear

In related news, General Counsel Morgan Fong sold 11,325 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.97, for a total value of $486,635.25. Following the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 287,659 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,360,707.23. The trade was a 3.79 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Alan Ramsay sold 2,559 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.97, for a total value of $109,960.23. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 96,666 shares in the company, valued at $4,153,738.02. This represents a 2.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 112,128 shares of company stock valued at $4,980,404. 36.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CART. Pacer Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Maplebear during the 3rd quarter valued at about $158,701,000. Sculptor Capital LP purchased a new position in shares of Maplebear during the second quarter worth about $77,361,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Maplebear by 151.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,732,738 shares of the company’s stock worth $111,361,000 after purchasing an additional 1,647,081 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Maplebear by 5,191.1% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,489,655 shares of the company’s stock worth $60,689,000 after purchasing an additional 1,461,501 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Southpoint Capital Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Maplebear by 56.3% during the third quarter. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP now owns 2,500,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $101,850,000 after purchasing an additional 900,000 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 63.09% of the company’s stock.

About Maplebear

Maplebear Inc, doing business as Instacart, engages in the provision of online grocery shopping services to households in North America. It sells and delivers grocery products, as well as pickup services through a mobile application and website. It also operates virtual convenience stores; and provides software-as-a-service solutions to retailers.