CarGurus (NASDAQ:CARG) Receives “Buy” Rating from Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC reissued their buy rating on shares of CarGurus (NASDAQ:CARG) in a research note released on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $45.00 price objective on the stock.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on CARG. DA Davidson upped their price objective on CarGurus from $26.50 to $38.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Citigroup raised CarGurus from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. B. Riley upped their price objective on CarGurus from $30.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on CarGurus from $30.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $46.00 target price on shares of CarGurus in a report on Monday, December 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $38.59.

CarGurus Trading Down 17.1 %

CARG opened at $31.15 on Friday. CarGurus has a 1-year low of $21.18 and a 1-year high of $41.33. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $37.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $33.67. The stock has a market cap of $3.23 billion, a PE ratio of -67.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.59.

CarGurus (NASDAQ:CARG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by ($0.06). CarGurus had a negative net margin of 5.47% and a positive return on equity of 13.96%. The business had revenue of $228.54 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $231.72 million. Equities analysts forecast that CarGurus will post 1.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at CarGurus

In other CarGurus news, CEO Zachary Emerson Hallowell sold 4,580 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.78, for a total value of $163,872.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 120,051 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,295,424.78. This trade represents a 3.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Samuel Zales sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.36, for a total value of $767,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 400,025 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,344,959. This represents a 4.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 59,388 shares of company stock valued at $2,204,338 over the last ninety days. 17.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CarGurus

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its position in CarGurus by 243.3% in the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 73,383 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,681,000 after purchasing an additional 52,006 shares during the last quarter. PharVision Advisers LLC bought a new position in CarGurus in the fourth quarter valued at about $243,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in CarGurus by 30.4% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 198,796 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,264,000 after purchasing an additional 46,298 shares during the last quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC bought a new position in CarGurus in the fourth quarter valued at about $480,000. Finally, Tybourne Capital Management HK Ltd. raised its position in CarGurus by 165.4% in the fourth quarter. Tybourne Capital Management HK Ltd. now owns 265,346 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,696,000 after purchasing an additional 165,365 shares during the last quarter. 86.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

CarGurus Company Profile

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.