CarGurus (NASDAQ:CARG) Stock Rating Lowered by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

CarGurus (NASDAQ:CARG) was downgraded by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. They currently have a $34.00 price target on the stock, down from their prior price target of $42.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s target price suggests a potential upside of 8.52% from the stock’s previous close.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $46.00 price objective on shares of CarGurus in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 price objective on shares of CarGurus in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on CarGurus from $44.00 to $42.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $38.75.

CarGurus Stock Performance

Shares of CARG stock opened at $31.33 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $35.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $34.31. The stock has a market cap of $3.27 billion, a PE ratio of 174.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.52. CarGurus has a 1 year low of $21.18 and a 1 year high of $41.33.

CarGurus (NASDAQ:CARG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.50 by ($0.06). CarGurus had a return on equity of 27.14% and a net margin of 2.34%. The firm had revenue of $228.54 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $231.72 million. As a group, equities research analysts predict that CarGurus will post 1.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at CarGurus

In other CarGurus news, CEO Zachary Emerson Hallowell sold 2,203 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The stock was 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 $4,421,271.96. This trade represents a 1.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Samuel Zales sold 9,857 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.62, for a total transaction of $360,963.34. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 434,821 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,923,145.02. This trade represents a 2.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders 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

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of CarGurus by 198.5% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 800 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 532 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its stake in shares of CarGurus by 100.0% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 912 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 456 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in CarGurus in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Principal Securities Inc. boosted its position in CarGurus by 82.7% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 937 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 424 shares during the period. Finally, USA Financial Formulas acquired a new position in CarGurus during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Hedge funds and other 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.