JMP Securities Has Lowered Expectations for CarGurus (NASDAQ:CARG) Stock Price

CarGurus (NASDAQ:CARG) had its price target decreased by JMP Securities from $43.00 to $38.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “market outperform” rating on the stock. JMP Securities’ price objective suggests a potential upside of 48.87% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Oppenheimer cut their price objective on shares of CarGurus from $44.00 to $42.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of CarGurus from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $42.00 to $34.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 price target on shares of CarGurus in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, CarGurus has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $37.95.

CarGurus Price Performance

NASDAQ CARG traded up $0.34 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $25.53. 186,122 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 840,676. The firm has a market cap of $2.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 141.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.46. CarGurus has a 12-month low of $21.18 and a 12-month high of $41.33. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $33.04 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $34.21.

CarGurus (NASDAQ:CARG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $228.54 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $231.72 million. CarGurus had a net margin of 2.34% and a return on equity of 27.14%. Research analysts expect that CarGurus will post 1.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other CarGurus news, CEO Zachary Emerson Hallowell sold 2,203 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.12, for a total value of $83,978.36. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 115,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,421,271.96. This represents a 1.86 % 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 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.78, for a total value of $307,800.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 390,025 shares in the company, valued at $12,004,969.50. This represents a 2.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 32,203 shares of company stock worth $1,158,978 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 17.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of CarGurus

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CARG. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its position in CarGurus by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 236,783 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,897,000 after purchasing an additional 1,496 shares in the last quarter. Summit Global Investments increased its holdings in CarGurus by 4.1% in the first quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 32,735 shares of the company’s stock valued at $954,000 after buying an additional 1,275 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of CarGurus by 3,844.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 122,229 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,561,000 after acquiring an additional 119,130 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of CarGurus by 695.4% during the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 2,593 shares of the company’s stock worth $76,000 after acquiring an additional 2,267 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its stake in shares of CarGurus by 243.3% during the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 73,383 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,681,000 after acquiring an additional 52,006 shares in the last quarter. 86.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.