Loomis Sayles & Co. L P Increases Stake in CarGurus, Inc. (NASDAQ:CARG)

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lifted its holdings in shares of CarGurus, Inc. (NASDAQ:CARG) by 35.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 946,974 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 245,919 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P’s holdings in CarGurus were worth $34,603,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in CarGurus by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,686,886 shares of the company’s stock valued at $353,959,000 after buying an additional 225,430 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 151,862 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in CarGurus by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,055,145 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,728,000 after acquiring an additional 74,730 shares during the period. Prevatt Capital Ltd boosted its holdings in CarGurus by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. Prevatt Capital Ltd now owns 1,230,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,937,000 after acquiring an additional 80,000 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in CarGurus by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,073,810 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,237,000 after acquiring an additional 30,593 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on CarGurus from $44.00 to $42.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 24th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $46.00 price target on shares of CarGurus in a report on Monday, December 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of CarGurus from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $42.00 to $34.00 in a report on Thursday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 price objective on shares of CarGurus in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $38.75.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Samuel Zales sold 9,857 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.62, for a total value of $360,963.34. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 434,821 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,923,145.02. The trade was a 2.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Zachary Emerson Hallowell sold 2,203 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.12, for a total value of $83,978.36. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 115,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,421,271.96. This trade represents a 1.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 61,888 shares of company stock worth $2,229,388. Corporate insiders own 17.20% of the company’s stock.

CarGurus Price Performance

Shares of CARG opened at $29.72 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $35.13 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $34.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.10 billion, a PE ratio of 165.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.52. CarGurus, Inc. has a one year low of $21.18 and a one year high of $41.33.

CarGurus (NASDAQ:CARG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $228.54 million during 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%. Analysts expect that CarGurus, Inc. will post 1.41 EPS 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.