Avis Budget Group (NASDAQ:CAR) Shares Gap Up – Time to Buy?

Avis Budget Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CAR) gapped up prior to trading 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 trading hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Avis Budget Group from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $130.71.

Avis Budget Group Price Performance

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

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

Insider Activity at Avis Budget Group

In other news, Director Lynn Krominga sold 661 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total transaction of $62,795.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 3,355 shares in the company, valued at approximately $318,725. The trade was a 16.46 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 52.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Avis Budget Group

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

About Avis Budget Group

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.