CarGurus (NASDAQ:CARG) Given New $38.00 Price Target at JMP Securities

CarGurus (NASDAQ:CARG) had its target price decreased by JMP Securities from $43.00 to $38.00 in a research note published on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. JMP Securities currently has a market outperform rating on the stock.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on CARG. Oppenheimer cut their price objective on CarGurus from $44.00 to $42.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of CarGurus from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $42.00 to $34.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $45.00 target price on shares of CarGurus in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $37.95.

CarGurus Stock Performance

CARG traded down $1.74 on Wednesday, hitting $26.21. 304,997 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 850,748. CarGurus has a 12 month low of $21.18 and a 12 month high of $41.33. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $32.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $34.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.74 billion, a PE ratio of 145.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.46.

CarGurus (NASDAQ:CARG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.50 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $228.54 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $231.72 million. CarGurus had a net margin of 2.34% and a return on equity of 27.14%. On average, equities analysts expect that CarGurus will post 1.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at CarGurus

In other news, COO Samuel Zales sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.78, for a total value of $307,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 390,025 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,004,969.50. This trade represents a 2.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Zachary Emerson Hallowell sold 2,203 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.12, for a total value of $83,978.36. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 115,983 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,421,271.96. This represents a 1.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 32,203 shares of company stock valued at $1,158,978 in the last quarter. 17.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CarGurus

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of CarGurus by 91.1% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 13,840 shares of the company’s stock worth $416,000 after purchasing an additional 6,599 shares during the period. Quarry LP increased its holdings in shares of CarGurus by 155.8% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,499 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 913 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in CarGurus by 4.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,298,894 shares of the company’s stock worth $99,066,000 after purchasing an additional 151,862 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in CarGurus by 252.2% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 169,461 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,089,000 after acquiring an additional 121,341 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in CarGurus by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,055,145 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,728,000 after buying an additional 74,730 shares during the last quarter. 86.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About CarGurus

CarGurus, Inc operates an online automotive platform for buying and selling vehicles in the United States and internationally. It operates through two segments, U.S. Marketplace and Digital Wholesale. The company provides an online automotive marketplace where customers can search for new and used car listings from its dealers and sell their car to dealers and other consumers; and paid listings subscriptions for enhanced access to its marketplace that connects dealers to a large audience of informed and engaged consumers.