CarGurus (NASDAQ:CARG) Reaches New 1-Year High Following Analyst Upgrade

CarGurus, Inc. (NASDAQ:CARG) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday after BTIG Research raised their price target on the stock from $30.00 to $35.00. BTIG Research currently has a buy rating on the stock. CarGurus traded as high as $31.99 and last traded at $31.96, with a volume of 35574 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $31.66.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of CarGurus from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $32.00 price objective on shares of CarGurus in a research note on Monday, September 9th. B. Riley increased their price target on shares of CarGurus from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $26.50 price target on shares of CarGurus in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of CarGurus from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $30.59.

Insider Transactions at CarGurus

In related news, COO Samuel Zales sold 25,168 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.34, for a total transaction of $713,261.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 480,583 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,619,722.22. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, COO Samuel Zales sold 25,168 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.34, for a total transaction of $713,261.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 480,583 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,619,722.22. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CMO Dafna Sarnoff sold 4,127 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.94, for a total transaction of $123,562.38. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 119,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,572,740.20. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 61,065 shares of company stock valued at $1,823,794 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 17.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CarGurus

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CARG. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings in CarGurus by 87.0% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 5,519 shares of the company’s stock valued at $133,000 after purchasing an additional 2,568 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in CarGurus by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 295,634 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,823,000 after acquiring an additional 1,904 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in CarGurus by 18.6% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 95,304 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,200,000 after acquiring an additional 14,961 shares during the last quarter. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in CarGurus during the 1st quarter valued at $1,315,000. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC bought a new position in CarGurus during the 1st quarter valued at $707,000. 86.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CarGurus Trading Down 1.5 %

The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $29.40 and its 200-day moving average price is $26.11. The company has a market capitalization of $3.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 112.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.56.

CarGurus (NASDAQ:CARG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.07. CarGurus had a negative net margin of 5.57% and a positive return on equity of 11.06%. The company had revenue of $218.69 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $214.85 million. Sell-side analysts expect that CarGurus, Inc. will post 1.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.