Needham & Company LLC Reiterates “Buy” Rating for CarGurus (NASDAQ:CARG)

CarGurus (NASDAQ:CARG)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reiterated by equities research analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $45.00 price target on the stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price objective points to a potential upside of 19.71% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on CARG. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $46.00 price target on shares of CarGurus in a report on Monday, December 16th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on CarGurus from $32.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. B. Riley lifted their price target on CarGurus from $30.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on CarGurus from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price target on CarGurus from $26.50 to $38.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $38.41.

CarGurus Stock Down 1.4 %

CARG stock opened at $37.59 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $37.94 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $33.60. The company has a market cap of $3.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -81.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.59. CarGurus has a twelve month low of $21.18 and a twelve month high of $41.33.

CarGurus (NASDAQ:CARG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.50 by ($0.06). CarGurus had a positive return on equity of 13.96% and a negative net margin of 5.47%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that CarGurus will post 1.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at CarGurus

In related news, CEO Zachary Emerson Hallowell sold 4,580 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.78, for a total value of $163,872.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 120,051 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,295,424.78. This trade represents a 3.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CTO Matthew Todd Quinn sold 4,678 shares of CarGurus stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.78, for a total transaction of $167,378.84. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 195,795 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,005,545.10. The trade was a 2.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 59,388 shares of company stock worth $2,204,338 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 17.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CarGurus

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its stake in CarGurus by 198.5% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 532 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its position in shares of CarGurus by 100.0% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 912 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 456 shares during the period. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in shares of CarGurus during the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Principal Securities Inc. grew its position in shares of CarGurus by 82.7% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 937 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 424 shares during the period. Finally, USA Financial Formulas bought a new stake in shares of CarGurus during the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. 86.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.