CarGurus, Inc. (NASDAQ:CARG) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of CarGurus, Inc. (NASDAQ:CARG) have been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the eleven brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $36.95.

CARG has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC lowered their price target on CarGurus from $45.00 to $39.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 9th. JMP Securities cut their price target on shares of CarGurus from $43.00 to $38.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Oppenheimer cut their price target on shares of CarGurus from $44.00 to $42.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of CarGurus from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the company from $42.00 to $34.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $42.00 target price on shares of CarGurus in a research note on Monday, May 12th.

CarGurus Trading Up 0.5%

NASDAQ CARG opened at $31.41 on Wednesday. CarGurus has a 1-year low of $21.65 and a 1-year high of $41.33. The company has a market capitalization of $3.28 billion, a PE ratio of 174.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.45. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $29.12 and its 200-day simple moving average is $33.58.

CarGurus (NASDAQ:CARG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.04. CarGurus had a return on equity of 27.14% and a net margin of 2.34%. The company had revenue of $225.16 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $226.72 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.32 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that CarGurus will post 1.41 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Samuel Zales sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.29, for a total value of $282,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 493,382 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,957,776.78. The trade was a 1.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Zachary Emerson Hallowell sold 1,824 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.73, for a total transaction of $48,755.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 129,790 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,469,286.70. This trade represents a 1.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 31,824 shares of company stock valued at $907,856. Company insiders own 16.99% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CarGurus

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its position in CarGurus by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 236,783 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,897,000 after acquiring an additional 1,496 shares in the last quarter. Strs Ohio bought a new stake in shares of CarGurus in the 1st quarter valued at about $877,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of CarGurus by 185.2% in the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 835,244 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,314,000 after purchasing an additional 542,382 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of CarGurus by 50.0% in the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 67,246 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,959,000 after purchasing an additional 22,425 shares during the period. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of CarGurus by 113.0% in the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 123,305 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,592,000 after purchasing an additional 65,420 shares during the period. 86.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

CarGurus Company Profile

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.