CarGurus (NASDAQ:CARG) Sets New 1-Year High – Here’s What Happened

Shares of CarGurus, Inc. (NASDAQ:CARG) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $33.36 and last traded at $33.28, with a volume of 1908 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $31.75.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on CARG shares. Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on shares of CarGurus from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on CarGurus from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $32.00 price objective on shares of CarGurus in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of CarGurus from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on CarGurus from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $30.59.

CarGurus Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $3.41 billion, a P/E ratio of -63.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.55. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $29.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $26.71.

CarGurus (NASDAQ:CARG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.30 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.07. CarGurus had a positive return on equity of 11.06% and a negative net margin of 5.57%. The firm had revenue of $218.69 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $214.85 million. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that CarGurus, Inc. will post 1.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Samuel Zales sold 25,168 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.34, for a total value of $713,261.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 480,583 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,619,722.22. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CTO Matthew Todd Quinn sold 3,495 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.43, for a total value of $102,857.85. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 205,696 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,053,633.28. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Samuel Zales sold 25,168 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.34, for a total value of $713,261.12. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 480,583 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,619,722.22. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 61,065 shares of company stock worth $1,823,794 over the last three months. Insiders own 17.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CarGurus

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CARG. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of CarGurus by 1.1% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,198,538 shares of the company’s stock valued at $235,382,000 after buying an additional 107,244 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its holdings in CarGurus by 6.5% in the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,461,119 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,282,000 after acquiring an additional 89,346 shares in the last quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. lifted its holdings in CarGurus by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 1,145,692 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,017,000 after buying an additional 31,431 shares during the last quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH raised its stake in CarGurus by 26.5% during the second quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 1,090,335 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,567,000 after acquiring an additional 228,380 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James & Associates raised its holdings in shares of CarGurus by 2.2% during the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 534,939 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,015,000 after buying an additional 11,584 shares during the last quarter. 86.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.