Investors Buy Large Volume of Avis Budget Group Call Options (NASDAQ:CAR)

Avis Budget Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CAR) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Investors purchased 12,847 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 240% compared to the typical volume of 3,780 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Avis Budget Group from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $130.71.

Insider Activity at Avis Budget Group

In other Avis Budget Group news, Director Lynn Krominga sold 1,405 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total value of $133,475.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 1,950 shares in the company, valued at $185,250. This represents a 41.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 52.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CAR. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Avis Budget Group during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Avis Budget Group by 118.8% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 337 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Avis Budget Group by 41.0% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 681 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Avis Budget Group by 41.3% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 736 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 215 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Avis Budget Group by 31.8% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 936 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $75,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares during the period. 96.35% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Avis Budget Group Stock Up 20.5 %

CAR opened at $74.16 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.60 billion, a PE ratio of -1.43 and a beta of 2.37. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $80.00 and a 200-day simple moving average of $85.66. Avis Budget Group has a fifty-two week low of $54.03 and a fifty-two week high of $132.25.

Avis Budget Group (NASDAQ:CAR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The business services provider reported ($0.23) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.50) by $0.27. Avis Budget Group had a negative return on equity of 14.74% and a negative net margin of 15.45%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Avis Budget Group will post 8.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Avis Budget Group

Avis Budget Group, Inc engages in the provision of vehicle sharing and rental services. It operates through the following segments: Americas, International, and Corporate and Other. The Americas segment includes the vehicle rental and car sharing operations in North America, South America, Central America, and the Caribbean.