Analysts Set CarGurus, Inc. (NASDAQ:CARG) PT at $36.95

CarGurus, Inc. (NASDAQ:CARG) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three equities research 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. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $36.95.

Several brokerages have commented on CARG. Needham & Company LLC lowered their price objective on shares of CarGurus from $45.00 to $39.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 9th. UBS Group increased their target price on CarGurus from $29.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $42.00 target price on shares of CarGurus in a research note on Monday. Oppenheimer dropped their target price on shares of CarGurus from $44.00 to $42.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of CarGurus from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $42.00 to $34.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 27th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CarGurus news, CEO Zachary Emerson Hallowell sold 1,824 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.73, for a total transaction of $48,755.52. Following the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Samuel Zales sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.29, for a total transaction of $282,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 493,382 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,957,776.78. This trade represents a 1.99% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 31,824 shares of company stock worth $907,856. Company insiders own 16.99% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of CarGurus by 1.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,780,608 shares of the company’s stock valued at $284,909,000 after acquiring an additional 93,722 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of CarGurus by 12.7% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,052,180 shares of the company’s stock worth $234,560,000 after acquiring an additional 906,830 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in CarGurus by 340.5% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,606,869 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,808,000 after purchasing an additional 1,242,076 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in CarGurus by 168.7% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,524,478 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,704,000 after purchasing an additional 957,035 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in CarGurus by 547.9% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,398,341 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,734,000 after purchasing an additional 1,182,499 shares in the last quarter. 86.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

CarGurus Price Performance

NASDAQ:CARG opened at $33.64 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 186.90, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.45. The business has a 50 day moving average of $28.83 and a 200 day moving average of $33.75. CarGurus has a 1-year low of $21.65 and a 1-year high of $41.33.

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