CarGurus, Inc. (NASDAQ:CARG) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of CarGurus, Inc. (NASDAQ:CARG) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the ten analysts that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eight have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $39.55.

CARG has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $46.00 target price on shares of CarGurus in a report on Monday, December 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of CarGurus from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Oppenheimer cut 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, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $45.00 target price on shares of CarGurus in a report on Friday, February 21st.

CarGurus Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CARG opened at $29.87 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 165.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.52. CarGurus has a one year low of $21.18 and a one year high of $41.33. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $35.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $34.16.

CarGurus (NASDAQ:CARG) last posted its quarterly 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 analyst estimates of $231.72 million. CarGurus had a return on equity of 27.14% and a net margin of 2.34%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that CarGurus will post 1.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Zachary Emerson Hallowell sold 4,580 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.78, for a total transaction of $163,872.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 120,051 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,295,424.78. The trade was a 3.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Samuel Zales sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.36, for a total value of $767,200.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 400,025 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,344,959. The trade was a 4.76 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 61,888 shares of company stock valued at $2,229,388. Insiders own 17.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CarGurus

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in CarGurus by 16.4% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 244,828 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,748,000 after buying an additional 34,555 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its position in CarGurus by 36.4% in the fourth quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 87,862 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,210,000 after buying an additional 23,445 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in 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 last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in CarGurus by 9.4% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,043,217 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,328,000 after buying an additional 89,815 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in CarGurus in the third quarter worth approximately $503,000. Institutional investors own 86.90% of the company’s stock.

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.