Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Buys 2,561 Shares of Avis Budget Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CAR)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in shares of Avis Budget Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CAR) by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 592,341 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,561 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA’s holdings in Avis Budget Group were worth $51,883,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Avis Budget Group by 70,663.6% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 7,784 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $954,000 after acquiring an additional 7,773 shares in the last quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Avis Budget Group by 119.2% in the 1st quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 228 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the period. Gabelli Funds LLC acquired a new position in shares of Avis Budget Group in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,898,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in Avis Budget Group by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 11,593 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,420,000 after buying an additional 337 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caxton Associates LP bought a new stake in Avis Budget Group in the first quarter valued at $391,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.35% of the company’s stock.

Avis Budget Group Stock Up 1.0 %

Avis Budget Group stock opened at $102.67 on Monday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $88.57 and its 200 day simple moving average is $95.93. The stock has a market cap of $3.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.38 and a beta of 2.14. Avis Budget Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $65.73 and a 12-month high of $204.77.

Avis Budget Group (NASDAQ:CAR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The business services provider reported $6.65 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $8.55 by ($1.90). The business had revenue of $3.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.53 billion. Avis Budget Group had a negative return on equity of 101.41% and a net margin of 3.34%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $16.78 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Avis Budget Group, Inc. will post 5.24 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CAR has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Northcoast Research cut Avis Budget Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Avis Budget Group in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $105.00 price objective on the stock. Susquehanna cut their target price on shares of Avis Budget Group from $120.00 to $95.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on Avis Budget Group from $145.00 to $143.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Avis Budget Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Avis Budget Group has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $133.13.

Avis Budget Group Profile

Avis Budget Group, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides car and truck rentals, car sharing, and ancillary products and services to businesses and consumers in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, Asia, and Australasia. It operates the Avis brand, that offers vehicle rental and other mobility solutions to the premium commercial and leisure segments of the travel industry; and the Zipcar brand, a car sharing network, as well as the Budget brand, a supplier of vehicle rental and other mobility solutions focused primarily on more value-conscious customers comprising Budget car rental, and Budget Truck, a local, and one-way truck and cargo van rental businesses with a fleet of approximately 19,000 vehicles, which are rented through a network of dealer-operated and company-operated locations that serve the light commercial and consumer sectors in the continental United States.