Avis Budget Group (NASDAQ:CAR) Shares Gap Up – What’s Next?

Avis Budget Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CAR)’s share price gapped up before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $61.55, but opened at $64.90. Avis Budget Group shares last traded at $76.13, with a volume of 1,689,735 shares traded.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $130.71.

Avis Budget Group Trading Up 25.6 %

The company has a market capitalization of $2.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.48 and a beta of 2.37. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $80.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $85.74.

Avis Budget Group (NASDAQ:CAR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The business services provider reported ($0.23) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.50) by $0.27. Avis Budget Group had a negative net margin of 15.45% and a negative return on equity of 14.74%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Avis Budget Group, Inc. will post 8.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Avis Budget Group news, Director Lynn Krominga sold 1,405 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total transaction of $133,475.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 1,950 shares in the company, valued at approximately $185,250. The trade was a 41.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 52.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Avis Budget Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CAR. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Avis Budget Group by 4.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,354,546 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $293,825,000 after purchasing an additional 129,805 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in Avis Budget Group by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 672,227 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $58,880,000 after acquiring an additional 16,221 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in Avis Budget Group by 93.2% during the 4th quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 490,473 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $39,537,000 after acquiring an additional 236,576 shares in the last quarter. JAT Capital Mgmt LP raised its position in Avis Budget Group by 24.5% during the third quarter. JAT Capital Mgmt LP now owns 398,170 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $34,876,000 after acquiring an additional 78,383 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Avis Budget Group by 139.9% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 379,805 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $30,616,000 after purchasing an additional 221,456 shares in the last quarter. 96.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Avis Budget Group Company Profile

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.